12/05/05 FSA tomorrow is out, what next?

The FSA tomorrow plan is dead. So says the new Farm Service Administrator Theresa Lasseter. That plan would have closed one third of the FSA county offices nationwide, which would have been 713 of them. Idaho was targeted for a dozen closures, mostly the one and two person-staffed offices. USDA yanked the plan after a firestorm of producer and Congressional criticism. Despite that Lasseter says the county office structure still needs to be reformed. LASSETER "We do have to look at how we can operate to provide better services with less resources." Among other priorities, Lasseter says they have to look at more than 100 FSA offices that have no full time employees. LASSETER "We're going to have to be looking at where our county offices are located. We also have to provide better technology for them. Our programs are so complicated and it takes so much to get our programs for technology and meeting those deadlines and doing it accurately, making sure we're not overpaying or underpaying." FSA will make changes but no one is quite sure in what form or when. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott