Closing offices will preserve funds for new technology

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

REDDING, Calif. -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is defending his department's decision to close 131 Farm Service Agency offices, arguing it will help other offices stay afloat.

Despite some pushback from farmers who say their nearest working FSA office would be more than an hour away, Vilsack said offices slated for closure were within 20 miles of other offices, which was part of criteria set by Congress.

"People need to understand that if we didn't do this, we would be looking at reduced staffing in all offices across the board, and a reduced commitment to technology," Vilsack told the Capital Press in a phone interview. "It's technology that makes it easier for more folks to work on these programs on their computers at home."

The closures are part of a consolidation plan that Vilsack announced during the American Farm Bureau Federation's meeting earlier this month in Hawaii. In all, USDA will close 259 offices to save $150 million a year. The department, which has the equivalent of about 103,000 full-time positions, has an annual budget of about $145 billion.

Vilsack said his operating budget has been cut by roughly 12 percent since he took over the agency. In the last 15 months, the department has had 7,133 retirements, including some that were encouraged by incentives, he said.

At the same time, the department is producing "a record amount of work" in home loans, farm loans, export activity and conservation agreements, he said.

"Our work has not been reduced," Vilsack said. "We were looking at ways to not have to go to furloughs ... Congress gave us the direction in 2008 to look at offices that were within 20 miles of another office, or offices with only one employee or two employees. We found 35 offices that didn't have a full-time employee at all."

Vilsack's comments came as he touted numerous USDA initiatives in 2011 to help California, which he called the No. 1 agricultural state. Among those were 250 grants and loans for nearly 2,000 rural and midsized businesses, help for more than 12,000 families to buy or refinance homes and natural disaster aid for crop losses, the secretary said.

The agency also improved more than 1,600 miles of forest roads in the state and expanded broadband service to 18,122 rural households and businesses, he said.

"We've been very busy in California," Vilsack said. "We obviously want to continue to do more of the same. We're challenged because of tight budgets, so we're making sure we are spending and investing our resources as wisely as we can."

Among other issues, Vilsack:

* Said 2011 was the best year for farm income in the last 40 years, largely because of exports. He expects farm income to remain strong, driven by the new trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama and resolution of the trucking dispute with Mexico.

* Said he hopes a farm bill will be completed this year, although he won't be surprised if it is delayed "because of the nature of Congress and the divisions in Congress."

* Deflected complaints from dairymen and livestock producers that the alternative fuel standard continues to encourage the production of ethanol, which drives up the price of feed grains.

He said corn production in the U.S. has increased threefold in his lifetime, and that a third of the corn kernel in ethanol production is converted into a feed supplement for livestock. Further, the government is encouraging more use of nonfood feedstocks for alternative fuels, the secretary said.

* Said there is no plan to separately propose stricter controls on meatpacking contracts with feedlots and growers now that a scaled-back Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration rule has been published.

"Congress has basically directed us to stop work on the rule, which we obviously will honor," he said.

Online

U.S. Department of Agriculture: www.usda.gov