Nominations open for farmers and ranchers to serve on USDA Farm Service Agency county committees

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 2:50 PM

By Staff report

Nominations are now being accepted for farmers and ranchers to serve on local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees.

These committees make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2025 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2025.    

“Serving on an FSA county committee provides producers with a unique opportunity to have a say in local farm program decisions, ensuring FSA policies work, as intended, for producers at the county level.” said FSA Administrator Bill Beam. “Nominations are now open; here’s your chance to support USDA’s commitment to putting Farmers First by amplifying the voices of farmers and ranchers within your community and effectively delivering the economic support they deserve.”

Elections for committee members will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA). LAAs are elective areas for FSA committees in a single county or multi-county jurisdiction and may include LAAs that are focused on an urban or suburban area.  

Producers interested in serving on the FSA county committee can locate their LAA through a geographic information system locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections and determine if their LAA is up for election by contacting their local FSA office.  

Agricultural producers may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee if they:

Participate or cooperate in a USDA program.
Reside in the LAA that is up for election this year.

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.   

Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates. USDA encourages all eligible producers to nominate, vote and hold office.  

Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agriculture community serve on FSA county committees. The committees are made up of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Committee members play a key role in how FSA delivers disaster recovery, conservation, commodity and price support programs, as well as making decisions on county office employment and other agricultural issues. 