BROOKVILLE, Ohio — Minority farmers are outraged the USDA is considering closing the Montgomery County office of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and relocating it to Preble County. A coalition of minority farmers, the Shekinah Growers, has joined to voice their concerns.

In January the USDA announced FSA offices in five Ohio counties were being considered for consolidation, said Steve Maurer, state executive director of the Ohio FSA. Montgomery County fit the qualifications of 20 or fewer miles between the offices or two or fewer permanent full-time employees. Congress will decide about FSA office closings by the end of May.

“The 2008 farm bill provides special provisions for minority and limited resource land owners and farmers,” said Pastor Donovan Larkins, the founder of Shekinah Ranch located in Montgomery County.

“Jefferson Township and Trotwood (both also in Montgomery County) are some of the few remaining communities where there are predominantly minority farmers. We’re concerned that they’re not considering those provisions.”

Shekinah Ranch, a 150-acre facility that does outdoor education and training for urban youth in agricultural programs, makes use of USDA programs. Larkin’s assistant makes the drive to the Montgomery County FSA office as many as 20 times a month, Larkins said. It’s about eight miles; the Preble County office is 24 miles away.

“A lot of the minority farmers are part-time farmers,” Larkins said. “They would never be able to make that drive to the FSA office on a consistent basis. That is a shared view with our coalition.”

The coalition is concerned that this is a repeat of some of the disparities that have taken place with the USDA regarding minorities – that the agency is reneging on its commitment to serve minority landowners and farmers.

“We feel like, if they’re willing to move the office from us, they’re probably going to eventually cut services as well because access has been a historical problem between USDA and minorities,” Larkins said.

“We in the minority community feel strongly if the action of closing offices that have a direct impact on servicing black farmers continues, we are headed down a dark path,” said information put out by the coalition.

The coalition wants minorities to have equal access to USDA and to technical support, Larkins said. “We try to be a bridge between USDA and the historically underserved groups because just working through the forum is not always be doable for underserved populations,” he said.

Said Maurer earlier this year: “With the budgets the way they are, FSA has lost one-eighth of its employees. You can’t just keep spreading yourself thinner and thinner and hope to get the job done.

“That is as much a part of this whole thing as the savings that might be engendered from closing an office. We have to do a good job of using the staff that we have to our and their best ability.”