Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini continued his active engagement with customers and FSA employees during recent trips to several northeastern states. In a trip to New York to help the state FFA kick-off its 98th annual convention on the campus of Morrisville State College, he toured the College of Agriculture and Technology, and said he came away with a renewed appreciation for the nation’s agricultural institutions of higher learning.
While in the state, Dolcini visited the Onondaga FSA county office in Lafayette. He spoke to local staff and discussed the visions and expectations for FSA as part of his Workforce Engagement initiative.
“It’s important that I meet with our employees on ‘their turf’,” said Dolcini. “The candid discussions help me tweak our programs and policies to better meet the needs of our customers and employees.”
Following the local office visit, Dolcini met organic dairy producer Tom Trinder at his operation. Trinder is enrolled in FSA’s Margin Protection Program (MPP), Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC)/Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
“Mr. Trinder’s participation in multiple FSA programs is proof that, regardless of the agricultural enterprise, FSA has a program that will meet the producer’s needs – from income support to conservation to disaster assistance and credit, we offer something for everyone,” said Dolcini.
Day two in New York began at the Oneida FSA county office in Marcy followed by an introduction to Jessica Hula-Fredericks, an FSA farm loan borrower. Hula-Fredericks started her extremely successful dairy operation when she applied for an FSA youth loan in 2009. Since then, she has advanced to FSA’s guaranteed loan program and is expanding. Hula-Fredericks’ operation has grown from 100 to her current 750-cow herd. The farm normally employs nine people and can have to up to 14 employees during the crop season.
“Hula-Fredrick’s success is impressive to say the least, but I’m proud to say that her story of starting, expanding and enhancing her agriculture enterprise is one that can be a reality for many young entrepreneurs nationwide with assistance from FSA credit programs,” said Dolcini.
Dolcini’s day in New York ended with a trip to the FSA Schoharie county office. Employees gave Dolcini a farm tour to show him how FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) helped fund recovery projects that provided the landowner with disaster assistance following Hurricane Irene in 2011. He also saw a sixth-generation vegetable farm and met with New York’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Richard Ball, capping his brief but eventful visit to the Empire State.
Part Two of the Administrator’s whirlwind tour of the northeast included a one-day, four-state, four-FSA county office, 500-mile, pre-Memorial day blitz to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Dolcini started his tour to engage with employees and learn about their work projects early in the morning at Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He drove to the Cumberland County FSA Service Center in New Jersey for his second session with office staff, moved on to Dover, Delaware, to meet the Kent County office staff, and ended his day in Denton, Maryland, visiting with the FSA team in Caroline County.
“These busy county offices, and over 2100 others in each of the 50 states, are preparing for an intense summer workload as they take acreage reports, process program enrollments, host county committee meetings, provide disaster assistance and the list goes on,” said Dolcini. “Throughout my travels, the commitment made by local FSA staff to their producers and to one another was clearly evident.”
As travel needs cause Administrator Val Dolcini to appear in various locations throughout the widespread agricultural landscape, he won’t be far away from another FSA Service Center. And if he’s nearby, don’t be surprised when he stops in for an engaging conversation with customers and employees alike. For him, it’s all in a day’s work at the Farm Service Agency!
