<b>By JANE HOUIN<br>
Ohio correspondent</b> </p><p>

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In early December, John Stevenson, state executive director of the Ohio Farm Service Agency (FSA), announced that USDA Acting Secretary Chuck Conner has approved the final plan to consolidate FSA county offices.</p><p>
“The review of Ohio FSA county offices was to develop an infrastructure to meet the changing needs of Ohio agriculture, while providing better staffed, better trained and better equipped offices, thereby utilizing FSA resources most efficiently,” said Stevenson.</p><p>
Affected Ohio FSA county offices include the mergers of the Carroll County office with Tuscarawas County FSA office; the Erie County office with the Huron County office; the Montgomery County office with the Preble County office; the Perry County office with the Fairfield County office; and the Warren County office with the Butler/Hamilton County office.</p><p>
The consolidation process has been an ongoing debate. In August, the FSA State Committee was notified by the deputy administrator for field operations to commence public meetings to obtain comments about the proposal to consolidate five county offices.</p><p>
Public meetings were held in each of the five counties. More than 400 people attended those meetings, providing recommendations and alternatives. All comments received through the meetings or submitted directly to FSA were then reviewed by the State Committee.</p><p>
“We certainly appreciate those in the communities that provided alternatives and recommendations,” Stevenson said. “This input was very helpful. As a result of attending the meetings, listening to and reviewing producer input and considering Congressional concerns, the State Committee reviewed and revised the initial consolidation plan.”</p><p>
As a result, the originally proposed merger of the Perry County office with the Muskingum/Morgan County office was changed when many Perry County producers let it be known a merger with the Fairfield County office would be more convenient to them because of their regular travel to Lancaster (in Fairfield County) for business and personal reasons.</p><p>
The final restructuring plan was then submitted in October to the national FSA office.</p><p>
“The goal of this review was to develop infrastructure to meet the changing needs of Ohio’s agriculture, while providing better staffed, more broadly trained and better equipped offices, thereby utilizing FSA resources most efficiently,” Stevenson said.</p><p>
The implementation of these consolidations will begin in mid-March 2008.</p><p>
A forthcoming announcement will be issued as more information is released from the national FSA office.</p><p>