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Agency History

The Farm Service Agency traces its starts to 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression. A wave of discontent brought on by mounting unemployment and farm failures had helped choose President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who promised Americans a "New Deal."

One outcome 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 relabelled in 1937, its initial mission was to transfer whole farm communities to areas in which it was hoped farming could be performed more beneficially. But resettlement was questionable and costly, and its outcomes uncertain. Other functions quickly became more essential, including the Standard Rural Rehabilitation Loan Program, which supplied credit, farm and home management preparation and technical supervision. This was the forerunner of the farm loan programs of the Farmers Home Administration.

Another related program was Debt Adjustment and Tenure Improvement. FSA county managers, often with the aid of volunteer committees of local farmers, would work with farmers and their debtors to try to arbitrate contracts and avoid foreclosure. The idea was to reach an offer by which the bank could recuperate as much or more than it would through foreclosure by enabling the farmer to stay in organization.

FSA likewise promoted co-ops and even offered healthcare to poor rural families. Although the scope of its programs was restricted, poor farm households who participated benefited greatly. One study estimates that households who participated in FSA programs saw their incomes rise by 69 percent between 1937 and 1941! Annual per capita meat usage increased from 85 pounds to 447 pounds in the same period. Milk consumption increased by over half.

In 1946 the Farmers Home Administration Act consolidated 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 added authorities to the brand-new Farmers Home Administration that included guaranteeing loans made by other lenders. Later legislation established loaning for rural housing, rural organization enterprises, and rural water and garbage disposal companies.

Meanwhile, the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 had developed the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, or AAA. The "Triple A's" purpose was to support farm prices at a level at which farmers might survive. The law established state and county committees of farmers called "Triple A committees." These committees supervise the first federal farm program offering cost assistance loans to farmers to produce crop decrease.

The old Triple A was developed on 2 significant program departments: the Division of Production and the Division of Processing and Marketing. These were responsible for the work of product sections including 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 new, complex modifications in conservation, crop support and marketing legislation. Programs such as commodity marketing controls, and the policy of the Congress to assist farmers in obtaining parity rates and parity income, made the federal government the decision-maker for the nation's farmers.

After Pearl Harbor, the War Food Administration (WFA) was organized to satisfy the increased needs of a country at war. This reorganization grouped production, supply and marketing authorities under a central agency which coordinated the flow of fundamental commodities.

Following World War II, the authority of the WFA was terminated. In its place came the Production and Marketing Administration, which, aside from other obligations, kept a field services branch to assist in program oversight.

The post-war period of adjustment to peace-time production levels was nearly as challenging as preparing for war. New concerns had to be established, and at the same time, over-production of certain products threatened drops in farm income levels. The increased requirements of war-ravaged countries assisted absorb surplus production, but surpluses stayed a nagging issue for farmers and policymakers.

In 1953, a reorganization of USDA once again made modifications in the powers and duties of its cost support and supply management company. With the modifications came a new name - Commodity Stabilization Service - and an increased emphasis on the preservation of farm income. Conserving programs such as the Soil Bank were presented to bring production in line with need by taking land out of production for durations of time varying up to ten years. Community, county and state committees were formally identified for the first time as Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation committees.

The Commodity Stabilization Service became the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) in 1961, and the new name reflected the firm's stabilization and resource conservation objectives. Field activities in connection with farm programs continue to be performed through a substantial network of state and county field offices.

In 1994, a reorganization of USDA led to the Consolidated Farm Service Agency, renamed Farm Service Agency in November 1995. The new FSA incorporated 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 ended up being the Risk Management Agency.

Today, FSA's responsibilities are organized into five areas: Farm Programs, Farm Loans, Commodity Operations, Management and State Operations. The firm continues to provide America's farmers with a strong security web through the administration of farm product programs. FSA likewise executes advertisement hoc catastrophe programs. FSA's enduring tradition of saving the nation's natural resources continues through the Conservation Reserve Program. The agency offers credit to farming producers who are not able to receive private, business credit. FSA places special emphasis on providing loans to beginning, minority and females farmers and ranchers. Its Commodity Operations department purchases and provides commodities for usage in humanitarian programs in the house and abroad. FSA programs assist feed America's school kids and starving people around the world. Additionally, the agency supports the country's handicapped residents by acquiring products made by these individuals.