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Tonsager appointed chair, CEO of Farm Credit Administration

President Obama has chosen Dallas Tonsager to lead the Farm Credit Administration.  Tonsager has served on the FCA board and chaired the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.

Tonsager, a former South Dakota dairy farmer, was under secretary for rural development at the USDA from 2009 to 2013.

In addition, Tonsager served two terms as president of the South Dakota Farmers Union, from 1988 to 1993.

In 1993, President Clinton appointed Tonsager to serve as USDA’s state director for rural development in South Dakota.

From 2002 to 2004, Tonsager was the executive director of the South Dakota Value-Added Agriculture Development Center.

For many years, Tonsager and his older brother owned and operated Plainview Farm near Oldham, South Dakota, raising corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay.

Tonsager is a graduate of South Dakota State University where he earned a B.S. in agriculture in 1976.