|
|
|
Morgan County, Mo. —
As far as the future of the Morgan County Farm Service Agency office in Versailles, the clock is ticking.
And time may be running out.
“I guess I’m a little discouraged,” said Dennis Schad, the former longtime FSA manager in Morgan County, whose retirement in December left the office with two employees, thus meeting one of the criteria for consolidation.
But those who would like to see the Morgan County FSA office remain open haven’t given up the cause. Not yet anyway.
“Yeah, you still hold out hope,” Schad said.
But barring congressional action, a proposal to consolidate the Morgan County FSA office with the Moniteau County office in California will go into effect.
An estimated 60 people, including a mix of farmers and business people, as well as several elected officials, turned out for public meeting Jan. 31 at the Morgan County Library. It was the one opportunity for people to make public comments about the consolidation proposal.
Schad, along with Brian Lehman, a third-generation farmer and president of Morgan County Farm Bureau, were among those in the crowd who spoke.
“I thought the dialogue was good and I was really happy with the turnout,” Lehman said. “It wasn’t just a bunch of farmers. It was business people, too. It was a good showing that people actually care.”
Morgan County commissioners Wayne Kroeschen and Danny Murdock, along with county treasurer Louella Pryor and Rep. Rodney Schad, R-Versailles, were among those who attended the public meeting.
Lehman was sorry there were no representatives of the Missouri congressional delegation at the meeting.
“I was kind of disappointed in that,” Lehman said. “I was also hoping someone from USDA would have been there to get some better answers than we got.”
Eddie Hamill, FSA state executive director, spoke on behalf of the USDA. He read a statement from Secretary Vilsack and answered questions from the audience.
“First of all, I would assume most of us would rather be doing something else this evening, based on the topic we’re here to talk about,” Hamill said.
The state executive director thanked people for making their voices heard.
“I would like this group to know the Morgan County FSA Committee has been very vocal and engaged since this proposal was announced,” Hamill said. “They have expressed their concerns to me personally.”
Hamill tried to dispel the concern that last week’s meeting was simply an exercise and that the consolidation proposal is a foregone conclusion.
As far as the future of the Morgan County Farm Service Agency office in Versailles, the clock is ticking.
And time may be running out.
“I guess I’m a little discouraged,” said Dennis Schad, the former longtime FSA manager in Morgan County, whose retirement in December left the office with two employees, thus meeting one of the criteria for consolidation.
But those who would like to see the Morgan County FSA office remain open haven’t given up the cause. Not yet anyway.
“Yeah, you still hold out hope,” Schad said.
But barring congressional action, a proposal to consolidate the Morgan County FSA office with the Moniteau County office in California will go into effect.
An estimated 60 people, including a mix of farmers and business people, as well as several elected officials, turned out for public meeting Jan. 31 at the Morgan County Library. It was the one opportunity for people to make public comments about the consolidation proposal.
Schad, along with Brian Lehman, a third-generation farmer and president of Morgan County Farm Bureau, were among those in the crowd who spoke.
“I thought the dialogue was good and I was really happy with the turnout,” Lehman said. “It wasn’t just a bunch of farmers. It was business people, too. It was a good showing that people actually care.”
Morgan County commissioners Wayne Kroeschen and Danny Murdock, along with county treasurer Louella Pryor and Rep. Rodney Schad, R-Versailles, were among those who attended the public meeting.
Lehman was sorry there were no representatives of the Missouri congressional delegation at the meeting.
“I was kind of disappointed in that,” Lehman said. “I was also hoping someone from USDA would have been there to get some better answers than we got.”
Eddie Hamill, FSA state executive director, spoke on behalf of the USDA. He read a statement from Secretary Vilsack and answered questions from the audience.
“First of all, I would assume most of us would rather be doing something else this evening, based on the topic we’re here to talk about,” Hamill said.
The state executive director thanked people for making their voices heard.
“I would like this group to know the Morgan County FSA Committee has been very vocal and engaged since this proposal was announced,” Hamill said. “They have expressed their concerns to me personally.”
Hamill tried to dispel the concern that last week’s meeting was simply an exercise and that the consolidation proposal is a foregone conclusion.
“Congress laid out the way the proposal would go forward. Congress set it up that way. Going forward it’s important people know the proposal is moving forward, but it is strictly a proposal at this point. I want to make sure everybody understands that,” Hamill said. “That’s the biggest fear that gets brought up that this is a done deal already, and it’s going to happen and this is just fluff or whatever. The reality is anything like this has to go through a comment period and see if Congress wants to modify or change it in anyway. They wrote the original ruling; it’s law. But laws can be amended or modified.”
There’s a relatively short window of opportunity for people to prevail on Congress to act. The clock started ticking Jan. 9 when Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA’s “Blueprint for Stronger Service,” a cost-savings plan that included the consolidation of 131 FSA offices in 32 states, three in Missouri. The other two are in Buffalo in Dallas County and Hillsboro in Jefferson County.
The criteria for consolidation include the availability of an alternative FSA office within 20 miles and staffing of two or fewer full-time employees. USDA has listed the distance from FSA offices in Morgan and Moniteau counties at exactly 20 miles.
“I really don’t think Congress’ intent was as the crow flies,” Schad said.
Richard Elliott, who farms in both Morgan and Moniteau counties, attended last week’s meeting and didn’t leave feeling very encouraged.
“Even though it was stated it’s not a done deal … when the proposal will take effect if Congress won’t act, then I certainly feel it’s a done deal, because Congress can’t agree on anything,” Elliott said.
While Elliott has farm ground in both counties, he said it would be an inconvenience for Morgan County farmers if the FSA office in Versailles were closed.
“I have to go to Moniteau County to sign up anyway, so it won’t be a huge impact for me, but that’s not the case for most people,” Elliott said. “My preference would be the office would stay open. It would be more convenient for me to have this office available in Morgan County. I absolutely depend on the office personnel to help me understand the programs as they come out and change. If FSA wants to go to online signup, I have real concerns about being able to understand the programs. I much prefer to go face-to-face across the counter and talk with someone who is knowledgeable about the programs.”
Morgan County Farm Bureau President Lehman hopes last week’s meeting will motivate people to contact members of Congress.
“Hopefully a lot of people will respond,” Lehman said. “I think the more public input to Congress and the Department of Agriculture, something might get done. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we just need to keeping writing letters and making phone calls, and it might do something.”
There’s a 10-day window from the time of the public meeting when people can submit comments to the department of agriculture. Those comments then will be submitted to Congress.
“My concern is they (USDA) passed the buck and will let the senators and congressmen handle it,” Lehman said. “What I’m hearing is it’s more of a secretary of agriculture decision. That’s the way I understand it, it’s not a done deal.”
Beyond the 10 days, people can continue to address their concerns directly to members of Congress.
It will be up to Congress to decide the fate of the consolidation proposal.
“At some point, they (USDA) will take all of the comments that have been made and they will write up their proposal based on all the comments and submit it to Congress,” former Morgan County FSA manager Schad said. “If they take it up and don’t act, it (the consolidation proposal) is a done deal.
“If not enough congressmen get on board and approve a bill to stop it, it’s going to happen,” Schad said.
