NEW ULM The proposed closure of seven USDA offices in Minnesota, which is part of a planned nation-wide consolidation of 259 USDA offices, is expected to result in no job losses. However, the Farm Service Agency (FSA), an agency of the USDA, is simultaneously pursuing a 12.5 percent reduction in staff for every state.
The proposed consolidation of USDA offices is intended to save the USDA $150 million a year. Five of the seven Minnesota closures are FSA offices, with the other three being in Chisago, Pine and Scott counties. Locally, Brown, Redwood and Renville counties are not subject to closures or significant changes. Whether the local counties will receive any transfers will be determined later this year.
Minnesota FSA Executive Director Linda Hennen said her department has been pursuing the elimination of 55 employees since last summer. She said they are within seven employees of reaching the goal. She said her department will only obtain the reductions through early retirements and buyouts of eligible employees. The minimum qualifications for the buyouts are that the employee is at least 50 years old or the employee has served at least 20 years with the FSA.
The cuts were prompted by a 15 percent reduction in the FSA's federal budget last June. The cuts were part of a reduction pushed through when the federal government failed to initially pass a budget. This year, the FSA will face a 10 percent reduction from its 2011 federal budget.
"When we didn't know about [the 15 percent cut] until June, we had to scramble to cut costs and still meet our obligations," said Hennen, "They decided that drastic measures were needed with sudden cuts that big. We also figured on further cuts for this year. So, the staff cuts were meant to make up the 15 percent and beyond so we could avoid cutting staff this year."
Hennen said the closure and consolidation of USDA offices, including the FSA offices in St. Peter and Waseca, were intended to prevent the loss of employees. She also said it was designed to reshuffle the location of staff so that each remaining office would be closer to being fully staffed.
"We're moving around staff to fix uneven staffing. We had places with 50 percent of staff levels and others with 100 percent. Our hope is to move staff to make all the offices well staffed," said Hennen, "We hope to have the situation settled by this summer."
Hennen said that the FSA's portion of the office consolidations was designed to prevent significant inconvenience to its users. The FSA administers everything from farm subsidies programs to food stamps.
"The closures were made with offices that met two criteria: there was another office within 20 miles and there were two or less employees," said Hennen.
She said the closures should at worst add 20 miles to a user's commute, and that the staff reshuffling should provide improved service with a fuller staff. She said the location of some farmers' files has moved, but they should not experience any delays with the transition.
Finally, she said the FSA is current working on transitioning in a new computer system that will allow FSA users to be able to perform all of their paperwork online. She said the implementation of MIDAS has been a long time coming for the agency. She said it will help FSA perform its work more easily and will greatly improve accessibility to rural users. She said the new system is expected to be fully implemented by 2013.
Hennen and members of her management team will hold a public meeting for public comment about the proposed Nicollet County closure on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 9 a.m. at the Lafayette Community Center in Lafayette. The Minnesota FSA can be contacted for more information at 651-602-7700.
(Josh Moniz can be e-mailed at jmoniz@nujournal.com)