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USDA-FSA creates online option for applications

The Administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency says FSA has adapted their approach during COVID-19.

Richard Fordyce tells Brownfield FSA operations normally take place over the counter, but it has set up a software program to allow farmers to submit program applications using a digital signature.

“Once the producer signs that application, you know, reads it, agrees to it, signs the application, just like they would in the county office, it automatically emails it back from the county office to the person that sent it,” he said.

Fordyce, the former Missouri ag director, said this makes keeping track of records easier and more accessible. But he says it might not be everyone’s preference…

“My dad would never participate that way, I could do that or I could go into the office, but my son demands that we ramp up our game and we do better from a technology perspective; offering additional options to work with Farm Service Agency,” Fordyce said.

Fordyce said changes made within FSA to work more effectively during the pandemic are here to stay. Brownfield interviewed Fordyce at the Central and Northeast Missouri food bank in Columbia last month.