REMAKE OF FARM SERVICE AGENCY IN STATE FINISHED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Missouri has fulfilled its Farm Service Agency restructuring goal four years ahead of the national schedule and on target with its own goal.

Effective immediately, producers in Dent, Reynolds and Taney counties will be serviced out of Texas, Shannon and Christian county agency offices, respectively.

Brad Epperson, state executive director of the agency, formerly known as the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, announced the closure of three offices last week.

"These are the final three offices to close in Missouri," said Epperson. "This brings to 14 the total offices closed during the past year, leaving the state with 100 FSA offices."

Closing of the final three Missouri offices are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's reorganization plan to save $4.1 billion of taxpayer money over a five-year period.

Congress passed the restructuring plan in October 1994. The plan, signed by President Bill Clinton a week after passage, called for the realignment of 1,274 offices into other field service centers, including 14 in Missouri.

"At that time, we set a goal," said Epperson. "We wanted to accomplish this task in Missouri within a year."

The overall national streamlining goal will reduce the size of the national department by more than 13,000 people over the five-year period, said Epperson.

Twenty percent of the projected USDA closings are now completed, including all 14 in Missouri.

"The restructuring of the USDA will not only reduce costs, but also improve service to our customers," said Epperson.

The resulting savings, said Epperson, are expected to total about $650,000 annually in utilities and rent alone.

No employee layoffs were necessary in Missouri, said Epperson.

"I'm very protective of our employees," said Epperson. "A number of employees took early retirement, And the agency had a hiring freeze on two years before we started consolidations."

"We have a lot of employees taking on new responsibilities," said Epperson. "We've been as farmer-friendly as possible in making these moves, and we want to continue to give our best services."

This was a logical thing to do, Epperson said. "If this were a private business, this kind of thing would have been done years ago."

In Southeast Missouri, ASCS offices have been closed in Van Buren (Carter County), Fredericktown (Madison County), Ellington (Reynolds) Potosi (Washington) and Ironton (Iron).

Producers in Iron County will use the field office in St. Francois County at Farmington; Reynolds County farmers will go to the Shannon County office at Eminence; Carter County producers will go to Doniphan in Ripley County; Madison County farmers will use the Wayne County office at Greenville; and Washington County producers will got to Jefferson County at Hillsboro.

Other offices closed during the past year include Camden, Dent, Crawford, Maries, McDonald, Ozark, Pulaski, Stone and Taney.