Donny Green, DeKalb/Cannon County FSA County Executive Director, announces that the nomination period for the 2015 Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Committee Election is underway. The nomination period continues through August 3, 2015.
“I encourage all producers to participate in the county committee election process by nominating candidates by the August 3 deadline,” said Green. “We are counting on as much participation as possible, because county committees are an important link between the farm community and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We have seen a trend in recent years of increased nominations of minority, beginning farmers, and women producers and we hope that will continue.”
Committees apply their judgment and knowledge to make decisions on county commodity price-support loan eligibility, establishment of allotments and yields, conservation programs, disaster programs, employment and other farm program-related issues. Nationwide, there are more than 7,800 farmers and ranchers serving on FSA county committees. Committees consist of three to five members who are elected by eligible local producers.
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 local administrative area in which the person is a candidate.
Nominees must reside in Local Administrative Area (LAA) for which they are seeking to be elected. For the 2015 Election, the DeKalb/Cannon County FSA County Committee Election will conduct elections in LAA-1 (DeKalb County) and LAA-5 (Cannon County). Below are the descriptions of the LAA’s that will be conducting elections this year:
Local Administrative Area # 1, the portions of DeKalb County described as following:
East of a line where Hwy. 146 crosses the Cannon County line; following Hwy. 146 North to Hodges Rd.; thence north to Tabernacle Rd.; following Tabernacle Rd. to Dry Creek Rd.; east of Dry Creek Rd. to Hwy. 70 West; south of Hwy. 70 to Hwy. 96 (Dale Ridge Rd.); thence north to Hwy. 96 to Hwy. 141 (Wolf Creek Rd.) to Center Hill Dam; from Center Hill Dam following Center Hill Lake southwest to include the area south and southwest of the lake to Sligo Bridge; thence following Hwy. 70 East in a westward direction to the intersection of Hwy. 70 and Hwy. 56; thence the area west of Hwy. 56 South to the Warren County line; north of the Warren/DeKalb County line back to Hwy. 146 at the Cannon County line.
Local Administrative Area # 5, the portions of Cannon County described as following:
That portion of Cannon County that lies west of Highway 53 (a state highway that runs south from the DeKalb County line and north from the Coffee County Line).
Individuals may nominate themselves, or others, as a candidate. In addition, eligible candidates can be nominated by community-based and other organizations in the county where the election is being held before the close of the nomination period, especially groups representing socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers. Nominations and elections are open to all eligible candidates and voters without regard to race, color, religion, nation origin, age, sex, marital status or disability. The nomination form (FSA-669A) is available at USDA Service Centers and online at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/elections
Ballots will be mailed to all eligible voters in LAA’s 1 and 5 on November 9, 2015. Completed ballots must be returned, either in person or postmarked, no later December 7, 2015. For more information about FSA county committees, visit the DeKalb/Cannon
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