Social Distancing May Lead To New FSA Tools

Very few good things have come from the coronavirus pandemic, but perhaps the future of agriculture could benefit from the social distancing requirements of today. Barry Bushue, Director of the Oregon FSA said prior to the pandemic, they offered limited on-line tools to process losses or to make answering basic questions easier.  But with offices closed, and one-on-one contact limited, FSA has worked since late March to expand services offered on-line.

“These types of tools which allow us to transmit personal documentation between us an producers, and if you look at some of our producers that are literally hours away from an office, it gives us an opportunity to be able to work with them, on-line if they have good internet service, which you and I both know not all of them do, but there’s a lot of these tools that are being developed that will be utilized in the future.”

Bushue said their goal is always face to face customer interaction, but, that may not be an option, so it’s nice to know FSA can still offer assistance in challenging situations. Bushue added whether it’s on-line, over the phone, or in person, it’s important to remember to keep in constant communication with your local FSA office. That way, he noted, when tough times hit your farm, the FSA team is ready to work for you.

“You know, if you have a loss on something, whatever it is, you lose your hay crop, you lose your berry crop, whatever, contact your local FSA office to report that loss.  They will take a report of your loss, we might not have a program now that covers you, but you’ve seen what’s happened in the last three to four years, there might be a program tomorrow that you’re eligible for, and we’ll notify you.”

Bushue added communication right now is extremely important with questions revolving around programs like MFP and CFAP.

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