BISMARCK, N.D. – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue has announced that many Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices will reopen temporarily in the coming days to perform limited functions for farmers and ranchers.
About 2,500 FSA employees across the country will open offices on Thursday, Jan. 17 and Friday, Jan. 18, in addition to Tuesday, Jan. 22 for normal business hours. The offices will be closed for the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, Jan. 21.
“I thank Secretary Perdue for doing all he can to minimize the impact of the government shutdown,” Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. “This will give producers the ability to close out lingering items from last year and move forward with this year’s preparations.”
FSA staff members will be able to help producers with specific services, including:
- Processing payments made on or before Dec. 31, 2018
- Continuing expiring financing statements
- Opening mail to identify priority items
Additionally, as an intermittent incidental duty, staff may release proceeds from the sale of a loan security by signing checks jointly payable to FSA that are brought to the county office by producers. Most other available services can be handled over the phone.
The North Dakota offices that will be open are: Bottineau, Carson, Cavalier, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Hillsboro, Jamestown, LaMoure, Langdon, Linton, Mandan, Minot, Mott, Park River, Selfridge, Towner and Williston.
For more information about the services that FSA can or cannot assist with during the three-day opening, please visit https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2019/01/16/usda-reopen-fsa-off....