In a move that sought to ease frustration among producers, the USDA reopened approximately 2,100 Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices.
Each reopened office is staffed with two employees, operating five days a week, to provide limited but essential services such as disaster aid, crop-insurance sign-up, farm loans and safety-net program assistance.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins emphasized that reopening these offices is a critical step toward delivering on earlier commitments to farmers, including billions in disaster relief. The limited staffing underscores the tension between disrupted government operations and the urgent needs of rural America during a challenging harvest season.
Farmers and ranchers have welcomed the reopening, but advocacy groups warn that the constrained capacity and lack of full funding could slow long-term recovery efforts.
Still, for many producers, the resumption of in-person services offers much-needed hope and a path forward to access economic support during a deeply uncertain period.
