The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revised the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee voting period. Eligible agricultural producers and private landowners across the country should receive ballots this week.
Elections are occurring in certain Local Administrative Areas (LAA) for these committee members who make important decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally. Producers and landowners must return ballots to their local FSA county office or have their ballots postmarked by Feb. 2, 2026, for those ballots to be counted. Newly elected members will take office on March 2, 2026.
Eligibility
To be eligible to vote in the county committee elections, producers must participate or cooperate in a USDA program and be assigned to the LAA that is up for election. Each year, at least one LAA in each COC jurisdiction is up for election on a three-year rotation, and each producer is assigned to vote in a single LAA. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits.
For purposes of FSA county committee elections, every member of an American Indian tribe is considered an agricultural landowner if the land on which the tribal member’s voting eligibility is based is tribally owned or held in trust by the U.S. for the tribe, even if the individual does not personally produce a commodity on that land. Tribal agricultural landowners 18 years and older can contact their local FSA county office to register to vote.
Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agriculture community serve on FSA county committees. The committees are comprised of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Committee members play a key role in how FSA delivers disaster recovery, safety- net, conservation, commodity and price support programs. Another key role includes making decisions on county office employment and other agricultural issues.
Ballots must be postmarked or delivered in person to the local FSA office by close of business Feb. 2, 2026, to be counted. Newly elected committee members will take office March 2, 2026.
