Amplifying Tribal Voices in USDA Farm Service Agency County Committee Elections

Nationwide, more than 7,700 dedicated members of the agricultural community serve on USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees. The committees are made up of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms. Committee members are vital to how FSA administers disaster assistance, conservation, commodity and price support programs, advises county office employment and addresses other agricultural issues.   

To hold office or vote in FSA county committee elections, there are specific provisions for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) citizens.

Nominations

Tribal nation leaders and farm and ranch organizations can nominate agricultural producers for County Committees serving tribal lands. Agricultural producers may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee if they:

• Participate or cooperate in a USDA program; and
• Reside in the Local Administrative Area that is up for election this year.

A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits. Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates.

Voting

Since the 1990s, every member of an American Indian tribe is considered an agricultural landowner if the land on which the tribal member’s voting eligibility is based is tribally owned or held in trust by the United States for the tribe, even if the individual does not personally produce an agricultural commodity on that land. Members of American Indian tribes holding agricultural land are eligible to vote in an FSA county committee election if the tribal member meets the age requirement of 18 years and older. Tribal agricultural landowner voting eligibility applies only to members of federally recognized Tribes.

How to Vote

Tribal agricultural landowners 18 years and older can contact their USDA Service Center to register to vote with FSA. After providing FSA with contact information, including a current mailing address, tribal landowners will be updated as an eligible voter in the FSA county committee election database.

Tribal Engagement

Additionally, FSA can collaborate directly with Tribal Nations to obtain names and addresses of tribal members 18 years and older to get tribal membership registered in the FSA election system. View FSA’s 2024 call for tribal nominations.

Additional Information

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the USDA Office of Communications collaborated with the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council in Montana to highlight FSA opportunities for federally recognized tribal nations to expand USDA service, outreach and education in tribal communities nationwide. 

The national outreach and education project includes aerial footage of the 1.5 million-acre Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana and video interviews with agricultural producers, current and retired USDA staff and tribal government officials. This is part one of a two-part video series – part two will be released later in the year.

For more information, including a USDA Tribal Agricultural Landowner Voting Eligibility poster, visit your local USDA Service Centers, fsa.usda.gov/elections and farmers.gov/tribal.