FSA sets deadline for return of ballots Monday to office

The deadline for eligible voters to return ballots to their local Farm Service Agency office for FSA county committee elections is Monday.

Committee members apply their knowledge to make decisions on disaster and conservation payments, establishment of allotments and yields, producer appeals, employing FSA county executive directors and other local issues.

FSA committees operate within official regulations designed to carry out federal laws.

To be an eligible voter, farmers and ranchers must participate in FSA programs. Agricultural producers in each county submitted candidate names during the nomination period last summer.

Eligible voters who do not receive ballots can obtain one at the local USDA Service Center FSA office.

Newly elected committee members and alternates will take office Jan. 1, 2008.

Close to 8,000 FSA county committee members meet monthly at more than 2,300 FSA offices nationwide. Each committee consists of three to five members who serve three-year terms.

Approximately one-third of the county committee seats are up for election annually.

For more information about FSA county committees and programs, visit www.fsa.usda.gov.