MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The head of the Farm Service Agency in West Virginia is out with a message to encourage farmers across the state to remember to fill out their ballots in the County FSA Committee Elections.
“It is very critical that every eligible producer participate in these elections,” said Mike Taylor. Acting State Executive Director for the West Virginia Farm Service Agency. “The FSA county committees are a very important link between agricultural communities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”
Unlike any other federal program, assistance to farmers from the U.S.D.A. includes a voice by those who are benefiting from the program as to how those programs are set up and fund distributed.
“They have several duties,” Taylor said of those who serve on the committees. “They hear producer appeals, act on commodity price support programs, conservation programs, they’re responsible for employing the county executive directors, they enact disaster programs and help share information about FSA opportunities in their communities.”
West Virginia has 23 different committees and there are anywhere from three to eleven people on each committee depending on the size of the area served. The deadline to vote in the local elections is December 4th. Anyone who has not received a ballot in the mail can vote at their local FSA office.