Farm Service Agency seeks candidates for election

SIGOURNEY- While residents of Sigourney and other small towns in Keokuk County will be holding elections for Mayor and City Council later this year, rural residents in northwest Keokuk County will be voting on their representative to serve on the Keokuk County Committee. The Keokuk County Committee is comprised of three members elected from Local Administrative Areas (LAA), and one appointed minority member who apply their judgement and knowledge to help with the decisions necessary to administer Farm Service Agency (FSA) programs.

            “They are kind of the eyes and ears of the Keokuk County Community to the USDA. They kind of elevate issues they see going on out in the field and in the farms to our attention so that we can tell leadership perhaps we need to tweak policy to help our farmers,” said Amy Krapfl, Keokuk County FSA Executive Director.

            Residents of LAA #2, which is comprised of Prairie, Adams, English River, Washington, and Van Buren townships, will select their representative this year. Frank Colbert, who chairs the Keokuk County Committee, has expressed his intent to run again, however Krapfl said typically, the FSA likes to see more than one person run.

            “We would like to see two people on the ballot just in case something would happen to whoever is elected, we can ask the alternate to serve, so we definitely like to see participation in the election, whether it be by running in the election or a voter,” she said.

            She added that the FSA elections are non-partisan and the FSA does what it can to ensure they don’t turn into political brawls like are seen in Presidential and Governor election years.

            “Because they’re typically neighbors, people don’t want to ruffle each others feathers. We try to make it non-contentious and friendly,” she said.

For more on this story and others, catch the June 26 edition of the News-Review.