National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture

Reforms for County Committee Election Process

2002 Farm Bill-Section 10708

Program Description

Many farmers are unaware of the critical role county committees play in allocating farm program benefits and getting information to farmers about programs. Election procedures for committee members are inconsistent from county to county, and are open to manipulation by a small group of insiders. To address these inconsistencies and increase accountability from USDA the 2002 Farm Bill:

Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to establish uniform procedures for nominating and electing committee members, including requirements on how ballots should be handled;
Allows community-based organizations that represent socially disadvantaged producers to submit nominations of eligible producers;
Authorizes the Secretary to evaluate election outcomes and take action where election outcomes are deemed unrepresentative of farmers in the community.
Requires public disclosure and reporting to Congress of the information collected.
Greater transparency and new standard procedures will enable minority farmers and the groups that represent them to learn how the system should operate everywhere, and empowers them to act as community monitors for the system.

Program Administration

Implementation of these provisions is the responsibility of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Each county must report immediately election outcomes to the Secretary including the total number of votes cast, the number of ballots disqualified, and the number of minority farmers elected compared to other farmers.

Using the Information

The legislation gives the public authority to request action against offices and personnel who do not meet these requirements or purposefully go against them. Reports will be made to the secretary and available to the public. People should be observant of local election procedures and report any irregularities to local, state and national officials.

Who to Contact

Rural Coalition
1012 14th Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone (202) 628-7160

http://www.ruralco.org

Resources on the Internet

Farm Service Agency (FSA), County Committee Election Fact Sheet:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/printapp?fileName=pf_20070319_admin_en_cocelec07.html&newsType=prfactsheet