BAKER — When Farm Service Agency administrator Val Dolcini returns to Washington, D.C., he’ll take with him area farmers’ ideas, concerns and praises.
En route to a New Orleans conference, Dolcini visited farmers in Mariana before stopping March 1 at James and Nick Marshall’s farm near Baker, where farmers and farm officials from Okaloosa, Walton, Santa Rosa and Escambia counties and Covington County, Alabama, gathered to meet him.
Dolcini was the first Farm Services Agency chief to visit Northwest Florida in at least 30 years, local FSA program technician Robby Adams said.
See "RELATED CONTENT" at left for data on Okaloosa County's various farms
“What the Farm Services Agency does is reconnect our farmers with the people who serve them,” Dolcini said. “I’ve been to 37 states. It’s just important to get out from behind my desk in Washington, D.C., and meet local farmers and see how our programs are being used and what we can do to help them.”
Responding to Dolcini’s queries about local soil conditions, James Marshall took the administrator out to a nearby field where he described area farming techniques and land management practices.
Over a barbecue lunch, Dolcini invited farmers to share their concerns.
James Marshall said he was impressed by Dolcini’s knowledge of farming during the brief tour of his property.
“He knows his answers,” Marshall said. “He surprised me. He knows his stuff.”
Dolcini, in turn, said he was impressed with the Marshalls’ farm.
“It’s wonderful to see a multi-generational family farm,” he said, adding as the world population grows, “it will be up to American farmers, growers and ranchers like these to help feed the rest of the world.”
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Farm Services Agency head Val Dolcini, center, holds a working lunch with area farmers Donnie Richardson, left, of Walton County, and Okaloosa County FSA county committee chairman Gary Booker.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at brianh@crestviewbulletin.com, follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian or call 850-682-6524.
BRIAN HUGHES / News Bulletin
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s Crestview office serves farmers in Okaloosa and Walton Counties and administers Congressional farm bills as they apply to local farms.
LOCAL FARMS BY THE NUMBERS
Okaloosa County farmers reported these statistics to the Farm Service Agency in 2015:
•Total farms: 1,519
•Total producers: 2,266
•Corn: 285 acres farmed
•Cotton: 2,123 acres farmed
•Peanuts: 1,772 acres farmed
•Pasture: 4,067 acres
•Timber: 609 acres managed
•Conservation Reserve Program: 4,931 acres
•Pecans: 223 acres managed
•Soybeans: 1,145 acres farmed
•Strawberries: 10 acres farmed
•Cattle: 6,100 head
Source: Crestview Farm Service Agency office
CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM
The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers yearly rental payment in exchange for them removing environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and planting species that will improve environmental quality.
Source: USDA Farm Service Agency
FARM SERVICE AGENCY
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Farm Service Agency head visits Baker, meets area farmers