By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. — Changes to the structure of roughly one-quarter of Indiana’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices have some farmers concerned with who’ll be helping them manage their federal programs, and representing them to the state and federal FSA.

The first of 10 scheduled public hearings began July 10 at the fairgrounds arena in Shelbyville. Approximately 30 farmers, state FSA officials and others showed up to talk about a proposal to consolidate the two offices in Shelby and Rush counties into one new office in Manilla (Rush County).

Washington, D.C., FSA officials tentatively approved the statewide plan July 2, which would restructure 24 counties and cut down on physical locations, mostly in the same vein as proposed for Shelby and Rush counties.

Steve Brown, state FSA executive officer, said this two-county consolidation would save more than $100,000 annually; statewide, he estimated the total between $1.2-$1.5 million.

Committees reduced

The original proposal was for Hancock County to join Shelby and Rush in consolidation, but according to Robert Nigh, Hancock producers protested because federal rules state a county committee can’t have more than five members. Since consolidation meant only one committee would oversee all three counties instead of one committee for each, Nigh said the farmers worried their county wouldn’t have sufficient representation.

“Someone was going to end up with not enough representatives from their county,” Nigh, who was on the Shelby committee until January, said.

He explained federal FSA wouldn’t raise the limit to seven because it didn’t want to set a precedent, so Hancock was dropped. “It seems like it’s worked out all right,” he commented.

Some producers at the meeting, however, gathered to talk afterwards about this. They seemed concerned that even between only two counties, one committee might not adequately represent all their interests.

Better service?

One reason cited for consolidation is to provide better service. Brown said some of these offices have only one or two staffers, which means if a farmer makes the drive there, they may have to wait in line. Putting offices together increases the number of staffers in one location.

Susan Houston, FSA director for both counties, travels between the offices.

“These girls work very, very hard,” she said of her employees, adding each may handle all producers for one or two programs by herself. “Many of you know that.”

“They are not just ‘come and go’ girls,” FSA Indiana Executive Director Kenny Culp agreed, saying FSA employees will stay late or work weekends to help farmers. “They don’t sit and twiddle their thumbs.”

No farmers present disagreed; some’s chief concern about one office is it would lengthen their drives.

Don Parker, who lives in western Shelby County, wondered if he might be able to switch administration of his programs to a closer office, such as the one in Johnson County.

He commented it’s a shame Shelby couldn’t be consolidated with Johnson instead of Rush, since, “Johnson County seems to be losing farm ground.”

Brown explained FSA’s new “convenience rule,” which will give affected farmers 60 days after USDA Secretary Mike Johanns approves the final restructuring plan to change their “home” office. The idea, Brown said, is to keep all producers within a 30-minute drive of an office.

Parker also wanted to know, as a tenant farmer, if his landowner would have to authorize such a change. Brown answered yes, they would.

Eventually, state FSA officials have said local offices should be able to handle more paperwork online, as well as crop acreage reporting and GIS (geographical information system). As it stands, Culp hopes the state’s savings can be used for such things as upgrading the outdated computer system.

When Culp asked federal officials about Indiana keeping its FSA savings, “They said, ‘We hope that happens,’” he reported. Budget items such as Homeland Security and the war are taking funding precedence right now.

Still, Brown said last year Indiana received 10 new employees, which surprised him.

“To say that we won’t get money back, last fall I would’ve said that … but now I hope we’ll see it back,” he said.

George Truster, a corn and soybean grower near Manilla, owns both buildings housing Shelby and Rush counties’ FSA offices. He pointed out each is close to restaurants and other amenities for employees that Manilla doesn’t have. Linda Conner, minority advisor to the Shelby County FSA committee, said it proposed Manilla.

“There’s nothing there, really, but it seems like a central location,” she explained.

For Truster, such a move is double-edged. He could lose rental income if he doesn’t win the bid to lease FSA a new office, but as a politically-conservative farmer, he approves of the tax savings that consolidation should foster.

“It’s something that’s coming, so we have to do it,” Nigh, 76, philosophized, recalling the last local FSA change a few years ago, when Shelby County lost its director and came under Rush County’s director instead.

“It’s not going to bother me too much anyway; I’m ready to retire.”

This farm news was published in the July 18, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.