FSA encourages farmers to vote in county committee elections

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The 2020 Farm Service Agency County Committee Elections began on November 2 when ballots were mailed to eligible voters. The deadline to return ballots to local FSA offices or to be postmarked is December 7.
The candidates in this year’s election are:
Kenneth Capers is nominated in LAA1, Colleton County, to serve as COC member for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2021. Capers, who lives in Islandton, has produced soybeans, corn, cotton, tobacco, white potatoes, cattle, pigs, goats, oats, rye grass and rye grain. He is a third-generation farmer and an active member of Farm Bureau.
Freddie Russell (Rusty) Kinard is nominated in LAA1, Colleton County, to serve as COC member for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2021. Kinard resides in Lodge, and has produced cotton, soybeans, peanuts, corn, oats, rye, wheat, watermelons, cantaloupes, hay and cattle. He is a third-generation farmer and an active member of Farm Bureau.
County committee members are an important component of the operations of FSA and provide a link between the agricultural community and USDA. Farmers and ranchers elected to county committees help deliver FSA programs at the local level, applying their knowledge and judgment to make decisions on commodity price support programs, conservation programs, incentive indemnity and disaster programs for some commodities, emergency programs and eligibility. FSA committees operate within official regulations designed to carry out federal laws.

To be an eligible voter, farmers and ranchers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program. A person who is not of legal voting age but supervises and conducts the farming operations of an entire farm may also be eligible to vote.
Eligible voters in local administrative area 1 who do not receive a ballot can obtain one from the Colleton County USDA Service Center, 531 Robertson Blvd.
Newly elected committee members will take office Jan. 1, 2021.
More information on county committees, such as the new 2020 fact sheet, can be found on the FSA website at fsa.usda.gov/elections or at the Colleton County USDA Service Center, 843-549-1822.