Farmers speak up for their FSA offices at hearings
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/16/2012 9:39 AM
E-mail article | Print version
WASECA, Minn. — Nearly 280 people attended hearings held last week on the proposed closing and consolidation of five Farm Service Agency county offices in Minnesota.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a Blueprint for Stronger Service in January that included closing 259 USDA offices across the nation. Of those 259 offices, 131 are Farm Service Agency offices. Five of those FSA offices are in Minnesota. They are in Scott, Nicollet, Waseca, Chisago and Pine counties. The staff and producers from those counties will be relocated to a neighboring office if the secretary decides to proceed with the plan.
Last week, Minnesota FSA state executive director Linda Hennen, John Berge, executive director of the National Food and Agriculture Council in the Office of the Secretary, and Glenn Schafer, Minnesota FSA executive officer, listened to comments on the impact of the proposed closures.
In Waseca, 91 people filled the meeting room at Southern Research and Outreach Center. Several spoke during a formal public comment period, praising the staff at the Waseca County office for their professionalism and excellent customer service.
Farmer Curt Russel said staff who've left haven't been replaced, but there's a pile of work to do in the Waseca County office. Waseca County is already sacrificing, he said. The county also shares a county executive director with another county. It's not a good office to close, he said.
The workload in Waseca County is rated at 4.5 employees, said former FSA employee Sandy Hendrickson. The county has been short on help for years, with staff from other offices coming to help out.
"I don't have any more bodies to put in Waseca," Hennen said. Her staffing cap has been reduced by 55 people, enough to staff nine average-sized county offices. In 2010, USDA funded 520 Farm Service Agency staff in Minnesota. By the end of the current fiscal year, the agency will only fund 465, a 12.5 percent reduction.
Hennen, who started her career in FSA as a temporary worker in Stevens County, said she can't staff 79 offices with 55 less people and continue to provide the service farmers have come to expect. The staff members who are coming to help in Waseca are leaving their work unfinished in their home office. It's waiting for them upon their return.
No one wants to consolidate offices, Hennen said, but Congress has cut budgets of the Farm Service Agency and the entire U.S. Agriculture Department and the agencies must figure out a way to reduce their expenses while delivering the same or better service.
"I wish I had better news for you," she said. "We don't have enough people for the workload here."