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WASHINGTON,
Sept. 28, 2005 - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced today
that he is opening a dialogue with state and congressional leaders
to discuss how best to modernize the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to
ensure it meets the needs of farmers and ranchers in the 21st
Century.
"FSA
is an agency with a strong record of service to farmers and
ranchers," said Johanns. "To continue that tradition we must
examine our future course with vision and an understanding that
producers' needs are changing.
"Our
FSA state directors are engaging stakeholders, local, and state
congressional leaders to develop proposals that will help us chart
the course for the agency's future. My hope is that we can agree on
a plan that will make it possible to invest in equipment,
technology and our employees. We want to ensure that top notch
service is provided to our farmers and ranchers long into the
future," Johanns said.
The FSA
dates back to the 1930s when one in four Americans lived on a farm
and it was necessary to maintain a presence in virtually every
rural county to administer farm payments. Agriculture and rural
America have changed dramatically since that time, as have farm
programs, while the structure of FSA has undergone fewer dramatic
changes. While many farmers are equipped to conduct business via
the Internet, FSA technologies do not fully support web-based
services.
Nationally,
the agency has 2,351 county offices across the country. More than
400 of these offices now have two or fewer full-time staff. Nearly
500 offices are within 20 miles of the next nearest office. And,
the cost of delivering services varies widely, ranging from less
than 1 cent for the delivery of a dollar of program benefits to
more than $2 in expenses for every dollar of benefits delivered.
FSA
state executive directors are currently reviewing analytical
information for their respective states. This data includes
workload assessments for each office, location of offices in
proximity to one another, farm lending volume and density of
agricultural activity. The state executive directors will work with
stakeholders, local, state and congressional leaders to consider
local needs that might not be reflected in the data and submit
consolidation proposals by November 15.
The
ultimate goal of the modernization proposal is to create a network
of state-of the-art FSA offices by upgrading equipment, investing
in technology and providing personnel with additional training.
Minimal, if any, net reductions in personnel are anticipated.
More information about FSA programs is available at www.fsa.usda.gov.
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