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2024
Farm Service Agency County Committee Elections Now Open
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[November 20, 2024]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) mailed ballots last week for the Farm Service Agency (FSA)
county committee elections to all eligible agricultural producers
and private landowners across the country.
Elections are occurring in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA)
for these committee members who make important decisions about how
federal farm programs are administered locally. Producers and
landowners must return ballots to their local FSA county office
or have their ballots postmarked by December 2, 2024, for those
ballots to be counted.
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 Producers
must participate or cooperate in a USDA program and reside in
the LAA that is up for election this year to be eligible to vote
in the county committee election. A cooperating producer is
someone who has provided information about their farming or
ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or
received program benefits. Additionally, producers who are not
of legal voting age, but supervise and conduct farming
operations for an entire farm, are eligible to vote in these
elections.
For purposes of FSA county committee elections, every member of
an American Indian tribe is considered an agricultural landowner
if the land on which the tribal member’s voting eligibility is
based is tribally owned or held in trust by the U.S. for the
tribe, even if the individual does not personally produce a
commodity on that land. Tribal agricultural landowners 18 years
and older can contact their local FSA county office to register
to vote.
Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the
agricultural community serve on FSA county committees. Each
committee has from three to 5 elected members who serve
three-year terms, and at least one seat representing a LAA up
for election each year. Committee members are vital to how FSA
carries out disaster recovery, conservation, commodity and price
support programs, as well as making decisions on county office
employment and other agricultural issues. They help ensure
inclusive representation on committees and equitable
administration of FSA farm programs in their jurisdiction.
Ballots must be postmarked or delivered in person to the local
FSA office by close of business December 2, 2024, to be counted.
Newly elected committee members will take office January 1,
2025. Producers can identify LAAs up for election through a
geographic information system locator tool available at
fsa.usda.gov/elections
and may confirm their LAA by contacting their local FSA office.
Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot in the mail can
request one from their local FSA county office.
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Urban County Committees
Urban county committees have been established in 27 cities to
strengthen administration of FSA programs in urban areas. Urban
committee members are nominated and elected to serve by local
urban producers in the same jurisdiction. Committee members will
provide outreach to ensure urban producers understand USDA
programs, serve as the voice of other urban producers and assist
in program implementation that support the needs of the growing
urban community. The 27 cities with urban county committees are
listed at fsa.usda.gov/elections
and farmers.gov/urban. Of
these, ten urban county committees will hold an inaugural
election this cycle.
Visit fsa.usda.gov/elections
for more information on county committee elections.
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