Farm Service Agency fears closing threat

The Farm Service Agency administers federal agricultural programs.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- If the state committee that oversees Farm Service Agency offices in Ohio has its way, the federal agency's Trumbull County office will merge with three other counties and relocate to Orwell.
Patty Davis, the county FSA's executive director, said she learned recently that the committee, based in Columbus, decided to close or combine 14 offices in eastern Ohio.
She said the committee, made up of representatives from western Ohio, had recommended that just one office in that part of the state be closed.
For Trumbull County's FSA, closing or combining would mean moving operations to Orwell, where the Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake counties agency is located.
It would probably mean that one of the two executive directors in Cortland and Orwell would lose his job, and one or two of the three employees working in the Cortland office would also be let go, she said.
More important, the move would be a detriment to the farmers in the county who rely on the agency for administration of agricultural programs passed by Congress, Davis said. Farmers come to the office for a variety of reasons, such as applying for programs. Much of the work involves the processing of checks, she said.
The FSA office is in the Trumbull County Agriculture and Family Education Center on Main Street. Other offices in the building are the Ohio State Extension Service, Soil and Water Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Recommendations to come
Davis said the committee is expected to submit its recommendations to the FSA headquarters in Washington, D.C., by next week. If Trumbull County's office is on the list to be closed, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, of Niles, D-17th, and Steven LaTourette of Madison, R-14th; and Ohio Sens. Michael DeWine and George Voinovich would be notified of the decision and the matter would be referred to Congress, she said.
If objections are not raised at that level, the office would close, she said. She expects to know by next week whether the committee recommends the office be closed. It could take four months after that to get a decision from Congress, she said.
Davis said she thinks financial savings could be made in other ways besides closing her office. She said combining four offices into one is too much, and service for Trumbull farmers would become less personalized as it moves farther from home.
runyan@vindy.com