The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is moving forward with the first-ever full election cycle for the Kansas City Urban County Committee (UCOC). The county committee currently has an awesome lineup of farmers who were appointed to serve as county committee advisors last fall, but it is exciting to see the first election coming up.
The Urban Service Centers will offer farm loan, conservation, disaster assistance and risk management programs. USDA works with agricultural producers through a network of more than 2,300 Service Centers nationwide, and the new Urban Service Centers will strengthen services to urban producers. County committee members make important decisions on how federal farm programs are administered locally.
“Every producer deserves USDA support in their own community, whether that community is urban or rural,” Said Scott Edwards, NRCS State Conservationist in Missouri, “We encourage people in urban communities to connect with us at our new Urban Service Centers.”
Cultivate KC encourages all urban producers – from backyard growers to full-time farmers – to consider participating in the upcoming election by running for an UCOC seat or voting in the upcoming election. Now is the time to connect with Neil Rudisill, Kansas City’s Urban County Executive Director, to make sure you are registered as an eligible voter with FSA (this does not require the full process of obtaining a farm number with FSA). Urban producers in the Kansas City metro in both Missouri and Kansas should reach out to Neil.Rudisill@usda.gov or 816.229.5113 by June 16, 2025, to confirm your voter eligibility.
Learn more about it here: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/coc.
