The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting nominations for county committee members. Elections will occur in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for members. LAAs are elective areas for Farm Service Agency (FSA) committees in a single county or multi-county jurisdiction. This may include LAAs that are focused on an urban or suburban area.
County committee members make important decisions about how Federal farm programs are administered locally. All nomination forms for the 2023 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1, 2023.
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; and
• Meet basic eligibility requirements.
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. Customers can locate their LAA through a new GIS locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections. Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates. USDA encourages minority producers, women, and beginning farmers or ranchers to nominate, vote and hold office. Committee members are vital to how FSA carries out disaster programs, as well as conservation, commodity and price support programs, county office employment and other agricultural issues.
Important election dates
Important Election Dates
• June 15, 2023: The nomination period begins
• Aug. 1, 2023: Last day to file nomination forms
• Nov. 6, 2023: Ballots mailed to eligible voters
• Dec. 4, 2023: Last day to return completed ballots to the USDA Service Center
• Jan. 1, 2024: Newly elected county committee members take office
Urban and Suburban County Committees
The 2018 Farm Bill directed USDA to form urban county committees as well as make other advancements related to urban agriculture, including the establishment of the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. FSA established county committees specifically focused on urban agriculture. Urban committee members are nominated and elected to serve by local urban producers in the same jurisdiction. Urban county committee members will provide outreach to ensure urban producers understand USDA programs and serve as the voice of other urban producers and assist in program implementation that support the needs of the growing urban community.
A list of cities with county committees for urban agriculture can be found at fsa.usda.gov/elections. More Information FARM PRODUCTION AND CONSERVATION | FSA | NRCS | RMA | Business Center
Producers should contact their local FSA office today to register and find out how to get involved in their county’s election, including if their LAA is up for election this year. To be considered, a producer must be registered and sign an FSA-669A nomination form. Urban farmers should use an FSA-669-A-3 for urban county committees. The form and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at fsa.usda.gov/elections. Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning Nov. 6, 2023.
