Farmers/ranchers can cast vote for county’s election

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has mailed ballots for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee elections to eligible farmers and ranchers across the country. To be counted, ballots must be returned to the Chippewa County FSA office or postmarked by Dec. 6.

“FSA county committee members provide valuable knowledge and judgment, as decisions are made about the services we provide, including disaster and safety-net programs,” said Justin Burchett, county executive director for Chippewa County.

Each committee has from three to 11 elected members, who serve three-year terms of office, and at least one seat is up for election each year, for a certain Local Administrative Area (LAA). Newly elected committee members will take office Jan. 1, 2022.

County committee members help FSA make decisions on its commodity support programs, conservation programs, indemnity and disaster programs, and emergency programs and eligibility.

Producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program to be eligible to vote in the county committee election. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation, but may not have applied or received FSA program benefits.

Also, for County Committee elections, producers who are not of legal voting age, but supervise and conduct the farming operations of an entire farm, are eligible to vote.

Producers can find out if their LAA is up for election and if they are eligible to vote, by contacting their local FSA county office. Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot in the mail, can request one from their local FSA county office.