JOHN DAY – The proposal to close the Grant County Farm Service Agency (FSA) office in John Day stirred concern this week among local agriculture and natural resources officials.

“If somebody takes a little closer look at this, I hope they’re going to see that this is not the right decision,” said Jason Kehrberg, chair of the FSA’s Grant County Committee.

Bryan Vogt, Grant County Farm Bureau president, agreed. Both said the closure plan overlooks the remoteness of the county as an argument for a local presence.

The FSA administers a range of programs that help ranchers protect sensitive waterways, bolster water quality, deal with natural disasters, reduce soil erosion and enhance wildlife habitat.

Vogt worries that loss of the local office will mean a greater disconnect between producers and the such programs. He said one result could be more missed reporting deadlines or application deadlines, limiting local growers’ ability to participate in conservation programs and obtain emergency aid.

The Oregon FSA management team will hold a meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, to discuss the plan with Grant County farmers and ranchers. The session, which will be the only public meeting for taking comment on local office, will be at Juniper Hall in the U.S. Forest Service office on Patterson Bridge Road in John Day.

The office is one of 131 FSA offices targeted for closure in a cost-cutting plan uneviled by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Monday, Jan. 9, at the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau in Hawaii. He said USDA is making the move to account for a 12 percent cut Congress has imposed on the agency’s discretionary budget.

“You know, I know the time has come for our country’s fiscal house to be put in order,” Vilsack said. “And that requires tough calls and tough choices.”

He pledged that even with the closures, the agency would still have “a very strong presence in virtually all counties across the nation.”

When full implemented, the plan is expected to save $150 million a year, he said.

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