U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Courtney Francois in St. Landry Parish reminds farmers and landowners that FSA is holding an informational meeting about the 2018 County Committee Election process at 2:30 p.m. June 28 at the St. Landry Farm Service Agency located at 5832 I-49 N Service Rd Ste 1, Opelousas.
Producers, including minority, women and new farmers, are encouraged to attend the meeting and participate in the election.
The county committee nomination period began on June 15. Nomination forms must be postmarked or received in the St. Landry Parish FSA office by close of business on Aug. 1.
For election purposes, counties are divided into local administrative areas (LAA). Each LAA nominates and elects one producer to serve a three-year term on the FSA county committee.
Each year, an election is held in an LAA where a committee member’s three-year term is expiring. For 2018, an election will be held in LAA 3, which includes all of Ward 6 which includes the Eunice, Swords, Lawtell and Pitreville area and all of Ward 1 which includes Lewisburg, Bellevue and the southern part of Opelousas.
To be eligible to serve on an FSA county committee, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and reside in the LAA in which the person is a candidate.
Farmers and ranchers may nominate themselves or others. Organizations representing minorities and women also may nominate candidates. To become a candidate, an eligible individual must sign an FSA-669A nomination form.
The form and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. Nomination forms must be postmarked or received in the local USDA service center by close of business on Aug. 1, 2018.
Nationwide, there are about 7,800 farmers and ranchers serving on FSA county committees. These individuals make decisions on disaster and conservation programs, emergency programs, commodity price support loan programs and other agricultural issues. Committees consist of three to 11 members who are elected by eligible producers.
Persons with disabilities who require accommodations to attend or participate in this meeting should contact Francois at 337-948-8288, ext. 2, or Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339, by June 27.