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Johanns OKs closure of 10 Nebraska Farm Service Agency offices
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)--U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns has approved closing 10 federal Farm Service Agency offices in Nebraska and has notified Congress. He sent the notice on Aug. 10, which began a 120-day waiting period before the actual consolidation. Eight of the 10 offices that will close serve Nebraska's 3rd House District. Its representative, Adrian Smith, said in a news release that he is "concerned with the timing" of the closures. "The House-passed farm bill includes language to prohibit office closings until one year after enactment, an amendment agreed to unanimously by the House Agriculture Committee. "In addition," he said, "the House-passed Agriculture Appropriations bill includes language instructing the USDA to take no further action on closures of FSA offices until at least six months after the next farm bill is passed." He said he has asked Johanns to delay the closures until Congress has time to assess the closures and make its wishes known to the Bush administration. The agency's executive director for Nebraska, Brian Wolford, outlined the following office changes, which will drop the state total to 71: --The Banner County office will be closed and services consolidated with Scotts Bluff County (Scottsbluff). --The Boyd County office will be closed and services consolidated with Holt County (O'Neill). --The Deuel County office will be closed and services consolidated with Garden County (Oshkosh). --The Frontier County office will be closed and services consolidated with Red Willow County (McCook). --The Sherman County office will be closed and services consolidated with Buffalo County (Kearney). --The Greeley County (Greeley) office will be closed and services consolidated with Howard County (St. Paul). --The Thomas County (Thedford District) office will be closed and services consolidated with Cherry County (Valentine). --The Garfield County (Burwell District) office will be closed and services consolidated with Valley County (Ord). --The Dakota County (Dakota City) office will be closed and services consolidated with Dixon County (Ponca). --The Hitchcock County (Trenton) office will be closed and services consolidated with Hayes County (Hayes Center). A plan released in March said a dozen offices were slated for closure, but that plan changed in June to the current 10 closures. The FSA, which last year proposed closing nearly a third of its 2,351 offices nationwide before scuttling the plan, helps administer government payments to farmers and manages other agricultural programs. The National Resources Conservation Service, another USDA program, plans to close four of its 81 Nebraska field offices. The conservation offices that will close are in Banner, Deuel, Dundy and Sherman counties. B 9 8/27/07 4 Star NE Date: 8/21/07
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