Hello Again!
As you read this, Memorial Day has come and gone, fading into another “official start of the summer season.”
Maybe you celebrated the day with a cook out and a visit to the cemetery. Maybe you watched a parade or maybe you spent it in the seat of a tractor trying to take advantage of another good day to get the crop in.
No matter how you celebrated the day, I hope you took the time to give thanks to the veterans who laid down their lives so that we were able to celebrate Memorial Day how we chose.
Memorial Day
Monday was a day to honor our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and sons and daughters who paid the ultimate price while serving their country. Let us not forget that for every sword we have made into a plowshare, we have also turned plowshares into swords when we have had to. For that, I give thanks to all who have went before me, and I say a prayer for those families who have sacrificed the loss of a loved one in the service to our country.
You do know that you can serve your country and your community in ways that do not require service in the military. The farmers and ranchers in every county are benefited by those few individuals who have taken the time to serve as a county committee member.
The FSA works as well as it does because of these folks and the way they ensure that the federal programs designed to support agriculture are administered fairly and evenly to all producers in their county. Though we don’t have parades in their honor, their efforts to ensure everyone is represented and treated fairly goes beyond measure.
Election
The 2012 election period is fast coming upon us. Committee members serve a three-year term and represent the townships surrounding their homes. They are nominated and then voted on by producers in those same townships.
All local FSA county offices are looking for individuals interested in serving on their county committee. Any eligible person residing in one of these townships who is interested in running for county committee, or would like to nominate an individual to run for county committee, needs to complete a nomination form.
The nomination form for County FSA Committee Election (FSA-669A) are available at your local county FSA office or online at the Ohio FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov/oh. The form is located under the “I Want To” section on the homepage.
As the FSA County Committee supports all producers in its county, members of socially disadvantaged groups (a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities) are strongly encouraged to complete the Nomination Form for County FSA Committee Election (FSA-669A) and nominate themselves or another eligible candidate. The nomination period begins June 15 and runs until Aug. 1.
Nomination forms for the 2012 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by close of business Aug. 1. Ballots will be mailed to eligible voters Nov. 5 and must be returned by Dec. 3, the last day to sign up for DCP/ACRE is upon us.
All applications need to be filed by June 1.
Hopefully you made it in to the office to enroll. If not, better hurry because the clock is ticking. If you are already enrolled, now you just have to remember to report your acres by June 30 for small grains and July 15 for all other grains. Though it may seem like a long way off, these deadlines will be here before you know it. Y’all have a blessed day.
That’s all for now,
FSA Andy
