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USDA Confirms Closure Of Molino Farm Services Office

Despite an outcry from farmers and producers in Escambia County, the USDA announced Wednesday that the Molino Farm Services Agency office will close.

The Molino FSA Office administers farm commodities, crop insurance, credit, environmental conservation and emergency assistance for farmers and ranchers in Escambia County. With the closure of the office, farmers will be forced to drive to Milton or Brewton for FSA services.

The process of closing Molino and five other FDA office will begin immediately. After the required notifications have been provided to producers, FSA employees and office landlords, closure dates will be established and made publicly available according to the USDA.

“The agency will provide farmers and ranchers affected by closures an opportunity to choose the most convenient neighboring county office with which to conduct their future business with the agency. In addition, all employees in a closing office will be provided an opportunity to continue their work with FSA,” FSA Administrator Bruce Nelson said.

In February, farmers and producers from across Escambia County met in Molino with Tim Manning, FSA state executive director, with pleas to keep the office open.

Manning (pictured) said that offices with two or less employees and offices that were located within 20 miles of another office were targeted for closure. Manning (pictured left) said that on December 23, the day chosen as a “snapshot” of the Molino office, it met both criteria for closure.

But multiple farmers and producers were quick to point out that it is more than 20 miles to drive from Molino, or areas like Walnut Hill or Nokomis, to the FSA office in Milton because of limited routes across the Escambia River. And the criteria for two or fewer employees, many producers said, was met only because a third employee in the office had recently retired.

We all understand that government must be a good steward of our tax money,” Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones said at the February meeting. Jones, a timber producer in Escambia County, pointed out that the Escambia County FSA office was the third busiest payment office in the state. “Sometimes you have to weigh those dollars against those that fund it…to put the human factor in it.”

“We are the last in Florida, the last county,” Jones said, “and sometimes we get left out of a lot of things.”

The major savings from closing the Molino Farm Service Agency will be about $16,000 per year in rent to the Escambia County Farm Bureau for office space along with telephone service. All other utilities are included in the monthly rent.

“The federal government is broke; we all know this,” Walnut Hill farmer Brett Ward said. “But we in ag are willing to do our share. But let’s make smart cuts.This is my opinion, in our opinion, is not a smart.”

“Our job to feed and clothe this nation is hard enough,” Ward added.

“We have pleaded for assistance,” Charles Woodward of Molino, former director of the Molino FSA office, said. “Can’t we get the people where the work is? We have been given a lot of lip service and we have done with very little.”

“Why aren’t we doing more at the FSA to get more food produced at the local level?” asked James Long. “Where are you going to get your food next week? This bunch right here.”

Mike Godwin of Walnut Hill suggested that perhaps instead of closing the Molino office, the Farm Service Agency should use it as a nationwide model of doing more with less since the number of payments processed per employee is now the highest in the state.

“We understand the impact these decisions have on communities,” State Director Manning said. “You will continue to find that FSA services are accessible and convenient.”

Pictured top: Dozens of farmers and producers packed a meeting about the Molino FSA Office in February at Highland Baptist Church in Molino. Pictured below:  The Farm Service Agency rents office space in this, the Farm Bureau Building in Molino. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.