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Hoping for truly improved efficiencyI live about 25 miles from Dodge City. It's not a ridiculous commute, but it isn't a trip you want to make just for a gallon of milk, either. As I read about Farm Service Agency office closings earlier this year, I thought about the 25 miles to our FSA office in Dodge City. It's certainly not convenient, but we can live with it. If they were to close our office and I would have a 50 mile or more one-way drive--now that's ridiculous. It was announced earlier this week that three of the Kansas offices that had been scheduled to close, will remain open. That's good news for the producers in those counties. It's bad news for the farmers near five other Kansas offices that are still on the chopping block. Farmers and ranchers are no strangers to trying to improve efficiency. Improved efficiency has been nearly the only way many farmers could maintain or improve their income in the last 20 years. But making cuts, just for the sake of making cuts isn't improving efficiency. It is just making cuts. Those office closings can be an improved efficiency, but only if the agency has taken necessary steps to service their customers. First things should be first. Have FSA staff done what they can to make their processes simpler for growers? Producers might be willing to make a longer trip to the FSA office if they didn't have to go there so frequently. Have FSA computer systems been upgraded to allow producers to apply for programs online, in an efficient manner? While many farmers are still paper-and-pencil types, more and more are becoming more comfortable with handling business over the computer--especially if it saves them a 150-mile trip and half a day. Farmers are not against improved efficiency. What they don't want is for their local FSA office to close and yet see no concessions that will make their lives easier. I don't know one farmer who wouldn't agree to improved efficiency at FSA if it meant that savings would mean more money returned to farmers and communities in rural America. Let's hope that if the office closings are necessary, farmers can see the results of their own sacrifices. Holly Martin can be reached by phone at 1-800-452-7171 ext. 1806 or e-mail at hmartin@hpj.com. B 4 4/30/07 4 Star NE Date: 4/25/07
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