US Farm Service Agency Administrator and South Dakota rancher Zach Ducheneaux told lawmakers late last week that he’ll give serious consideration to the recommendation to replace the FSA’s district committee system.
Industry Update Dot Com says the USDA’s Equities Commission recently made the recommendation. However, Ducheneaux says the district committee system is an opportunity for producers to be an important part of the process, but it’s also important for those committees to be representatives of those who produce. The administrator says the district committees evaluate regional prices and determine producers’ rights, but they don’t have the right to influence the loan approval process.
“We’ve been involved at every opportunity with members of the Equity Commission,” he says. “But we have to understand that we’re working to overcome the decades and generations when it was members of the county commissions that considered the loan applications.” Former FSA officials also say the county committees are important to the FSA’s mission.
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