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Vilsack picks Wickard to lead Indiana Farm Service Agency

By MEGGIE. I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Even though Julia Wickard has loved every minute of serving Indiana beef producers for the past four years, she will soon serve Hoosier farmers in the broader sense as the new executive director for the Farm Service Agency of Indiana.

On Aug. 3, Wickard will assume duties of the state’s FSA director under special request from the USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Julia Wickard has a solid understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our rural communities and will help build on the Obama Administration’s efforts to rebuild and revitalize rural America,” said Vilsack.

“When you get a phone call of this kind, you can’t pass up this sort of opportunity,” she said, as she reflected on her years of service to the Indiana Beef Cattle Assoc. (IBCA) and discussed what farmers can expect as she takes the lead for Indiana FSA.

Until the beginning of August, Wickard will serve in transition as she concludes her work as the executive vice president for the IBCA and Indiana Beef Council. Additionally, she is a managing partner in her family’s grain and Angus cattle farming operation, McClarnon Stock Farms in Hancock County, Ind. with her mother Judy, father Keith and sister Jamie.

“I will probably miss my great staff, from top to bottom I have the most trusting, loyal (IBCA) staff that have always had the hearts of producers in mind,” she said, adding that “it’s important to be thankful of my family, who have allowed me to take advantage of this opportunity. They understand that agriculture is a fabric of my being and an opportunity to represent family farmers such as mine in this sense is hopefully going to be an experience of a lifetime.”
In her new role, she will manage FSA’s 79 county offices in Indiana, while administering and managing farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster and loan programs as laid out by Congress.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with new staff and getting to know their needs,” Wickard said. “The number one customer here is the Indiana farmer – so I want to make sure that the staff have what they need to best serve our customers. As I take on this new role, my goal is to be transparent – keeping everyone abreast of what’s going on. There is no such thing as a bad idea in my book.”

Wickard went on to explain that she hopes to “extend new relationships/ partnerships that maybe haven’t been fostered before.

“My goal is to bring people together, build new relationships and find a better way to get the message out as well as connecting the dots for our consumer,” she said, discussing the interconnectivity between USDA’s food and farm programs.

“There is a lot of opportunity to expand on what’s worked well in the past and take it to the next level.”

Wickard said that she is looking into new ways of serving Indiana farmers under particular fiscal constraints and while new USDA farm programs are being released such as the new Livestock Indemnity Program announced last week.

Under LIP, eligible livestock producers can apply for assistance for livestock deaths that result from disaster such as adverse weather, including losses due to hurricanes, floods, blizzards, disease, wildfires, extreme heat and extreme cold. Wickard credits her greatest accomplishment at IBCA to the successful completion of an ag complex, housing the IBCA, Indiana Pork and Indiana Soybean Alliance in one building earlier this year.

“I’m so proud to have been a piece of that partnership and I hope that it lays the foundation for organizations to work together for a common mission,” she said.

In addition to IBCA, Wickard’s previous work experience has included public policy work for Indiana Farm Bureau, the Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture as well as serving as the executive director of the Indiana Assoc. of Soil and Water Conservation Districts in her first position post college graduation from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in communication and political science.

“I think my work in state government and public service has prepared me very well for this position,” she said. “Each of the parts and pieces of my experience as well as my role as a family farmer represents what I believe qualify me to assist all Indiana farmers.”

According to Wickard, Joe Moore, marketing and consumer education director for the Beef Council will serve as the interim director for IBCA. Additionally, the IBCA executive committee will be accepting applications until Sept. 1, with hopes of hiring a new leader by Oct. 1, she explained.

7/15/2009