09/20/05 FSA might consolidate some offices

CONNOR "FSA cannot stay the way it currently is." That's Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Connor who told a group of farmers that FSA, the Farm Service Agency, has to make changes. There's talk about consolidating offices, possibly closing as many as 665 of them. CONNOR "It's not to save money, its not to close offices, its not to cut personnel. It's to deliver a better service." Idaho FSA Director Wayne Hammon will be in Washington later this week to review the potential plans, then give his input on those changes and how they'd affect Idaho producers. Right now there are 35 FSA offices in Idaho to serve the 44 counties. American Farm Bureau Chief Economist Bob Young says USDA's proposal is shortsighted. YOUNG "Some of this may be kind of internal workings and let's kind of see what happens at the back end. We're obviously not excited about local office closings at all. Conner and Hammon both say that all the office closing talk is just that, talk and no decisions have been made but when they are you can bet Congress will chime in with its opinions. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott