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Agency History

The Farm Service Agency traces its beginnings to 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression. A wave of discontent triggered by mounting joblessness and farm failures had actually helped elect President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who guaranteed Americans a "New Deal."

One result was the facility in 1935 of a Department of Agriculture agency with familiar initials: FSA, which stood for Farm Security Administration. Originally called the Resettlement Administration, and renamed in 1937, its original objective was to relocate entire farm communities to areas in which it was hoped farming could be performed more beneficially. But resettlement was controversial and costly, and its results unclear. Other functions soon became more vital, including the Standard Rural Rehabilitation Loan Program, which offered credit, farm and home management preparation and technical guidance. This was the leader of the farm loan programs of the Farmers Home Administration.

Another related program was Debt Adjustment and Tenure Improvement. FSA county managers, in some cases with the aid of volunteer committees of regional farmers, would deal with farmers and their debtors to try to arbitrate arrangements and avoid foreclosure. The idea was to reach a deal by which the bank could recover as much or more than it would through foreclosure by enabling the farmer to stay in service.

FSA likewise promoted co-ops and even provided healthcare to bad rural households. Although the scope of its programs was limited, poor farm households who took part benefited considerably. One research study estimates that families who took part in FSA programs saw their incomes increase by 69 percent in between 1937 and 1941! Annual per capita meat usage increased from 85 pounds to 447 pounds in the very same duration. Milk usage increased by over half.

In 1946 the Farmers Home Administration Act combined the Farm Security Administration with the Emergency Crop and Feed Loan Division of the Farm Credit Administration - a quasi-governmental agency that still exists today. This Act included authorities to the brand-new Farmers Home Administration that consisted of insuring loans made by other lenders. Later legislation recognized lending for rural housing, rural organization enterprises, and rural water and garbage disposal firms.

Meanwhile, the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 had established the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, or AAA. The "Triple A's" purpose was to support farm costs at a level at which farmers could endure. The law developed state and county committees of farmers called "Triple A committees." These committees manage the first federal farm program offering cost support loans to farmers to bring about crop reduction.

The old Triple A was built on 2 major program divisions: the Division of Production and the Division of Processing and Marketing. These were accountable for the work of product sections consisting of dairy, rice, tobacco, sugar, wheat, cotton, corn and hogs.

With the passage of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and a basic reorganization of the Department of Agriculture that October came brand-new, complicated modifications in conservation, crop assistance and marketing legislation. Programs such as product marketing controls, and the policy of the Congress to help farmers in acquiring parity costs and parity income, made the federal government the decision-maker for the country's farmers.

After Pearl Harbor, the War Food Administration (WFA) was arranged to fulfill the increased requirements of a nation at war. This reorganization grouped production, supply and marketing authorities under a main firm which collaborated the flow of fundamental products.

Following World War II, the authority of the WFA was ended. In its location came the Production and Marketing Administration, which, aside from other responsibilities, maintained a field services branch to assist in program oversight.

The post-war period of adjustment to peace-time production levels was practically as difficult as getting ready for war. New priorities needed to be developed, and at the same time, over-production of certain products threatened drops in farm earnings levels. The increased requirements of war-ravaged nations helped soak up surplus production, however surpluses stayed a nagging problem for farmers and policymakers.

In 1953, a reorganization of USDA once again made modifications in the powers and tasks of its rate support and supply management agency. With the changes came a new name - Commodity Stabilization Service - and an increased focus on the preservation of farm income. Conserving programs such as the Soil Bank were introduced to bring production in line with demand by taking land out of production for time periods ranging up to 10 years. Community, county and state committees were officially determined for the very first time as Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation committees.

The Commodity Stabilization Service became the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) in 1961, and the brand-new name showed the firm's stabilization and resource preservation missions. Field activities in connection with farm programs continue to be performed through an extensive network of state and county field workplaces.

In 1994, a reorganization of USDA resulted in the Consolidated Farm Service Agency, renamed Farm Service Agency in November 1995. The brand-new FSA encompassed the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and the farm credit portion of the Farmers Home Administration. In May 1996 FCIC became the Risk Management Agency.

Today, FSA's duties are arranged into five areas: Farm Programs, Farm Loans, Commodity Operations, Management and State Operations. The agency continues to offer America's farmers with a strong security internet through the administration of farm commodity programs. FSA likewise implements advertisement hoc disaster programs. FSA's enduring custom of conserving the nation's natural resources continues through the Conservation Reserve Program. The agency supplies credit to agricultural manufacturers who are not able to receive private, industrial credit. FSA locations unique focus on supplying loans to beginning, minority and women farmers and ranchers. Its Commodity Operations division purchases and delivers products for usage in humanitarian programs at home and abroad. FSA programs help feed America's school children and starving individuals around the globe. Additionally, the firm supports the nation's disabled residents by purchasing items made by these persons.