Texas Representative Wans FSA Offices “Fully Reopened”

Texas Representative Jodey Arrington recently sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Sonny Perdue regarding Farm Service Agency offices. Arrington is asking the agency to reexamine and update their COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures and safely reopen their local Farm Service Agency offices. The 19th-District Representative says those offices are critical to our hardworking agricultural producers, providing access to vital programs like the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and the Wildfire Hurricane Indemnity Program. Their continued closures have caused frustrating and worrisome delays for those seeking the help they need. “While federal reopening regulations were necessary during the early stages of the pandemic, they now effectively prohibit necessary entities from physically reopening and processing vitally important applications for relief programs,” Arrington says. “Our local FSA offices need the flexibility to open and allow our patient agriculture producers access to vital resources.” While ensuring the health and safety of employees is important, Arrington says we must also find a way for these offices to open safely for the sake of the nation’s farmers and ranchers.