The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started mailing ballots for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee elections to eligible farmers and ranchers across the country. To be counted, ballots must be returned to the San Saba-Mills County FSA office or the Lampasas-Burnet County FSA office or postmarked by December 4, 2023.
“FSAcounty committee members provide valuable knowledge and judgment as decisions are made about the services we provide, including disaster and safety-net programs,” said Acting CED Beth Bataillon, Acting County executive director for San Saba-Mills County. “Please take a few minutes to review your ballot and make your selection prior to the December 4 deadline.”
Each committee has from three to 11 elected members who serve three-year terms of office, and at least one seat is up for election each year for a certain Local Administrative Area (LAA). Newly elected committee members will take office January 1, 2024. San Saba-Mills/Lampasas- Burnet County Committee members help FSA make important decisions on its commodity support programs, conservation programs, indemnity and disaster programs, emergency programs and eligibility.
The following producers have been nominated and are running in the 2023 election in San Saba-Mills LAA 1, which runs from West Highway 190 from San Saba and on the west side of FM500 north in San Saba County are Donna Taylor and Harold Yates.
Donna Taylor is nominated to serve as a committee member for a three-year term. Taylor resides in Northwest San Saba County and has produced beef cattle for 20 years. Donna is a veteran of the United States Army and worked training law enforcement cadets in Bexar County, San Antonio, TX Harold Yates has also been nominated to serve as a committee member for a three-year term. Yates resides in San Saba County and has produced pecans and beef cattle for 50 years. Harold has been active in many other community volunteer activities. He has served as a Director of the San Saba Soil and Water Conservation District, President of the Rotary Club, President of the San Saba Property Owners Association, and a Director of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Republican Party, NRA, Texas Narcotics Officer Association, San Saba Wildlife Management Association, Texas Pecan Growers Association, and the Texas Southwest Cattle Raisers Association.
The following producers have been nominated and are running in the 2023 election in Lampasas-Burnet LAA 4, which includes the communities of Gandy, Spicewood, Granite Shoals, and Meadow Lakes, in Burnet County are Samuel Burnam and Karen Lynn Bailey.
Samuel Burnam is nominated to serve as a committee member for a three-year term. Burnam resides on the Burnam Ranch outside Marble Falls, Texas, and has produced Angus F1 cross black baldie cattle for 35-40 years. He is a former trustee of the Burnet County Hospital Authority and a former member of the Burnet County Central Appraisal district. Mr. Burnam is currently a trustee of the United Methodist Church out of Round Mountain, Texas. The Burnam Ranch has been in his family for 168 years.
Karen Lynn Bailey has also been nominated to serve as a committee member for a threeyear term. Bailey resides in Burnet, Texas, and has produced vegetables, poultry, swine, and Boer goats while growing up in Minnesota as well as beef cattle since moving to Texas in 2012. Baileys’ primary livelihood is saddle making, with a specialty in hand-crafted western, performance horse saddles. Bailey has started a Ranch ministry, providing Family Fun Days, at no cost, to the local communities, to offer God-centered, family focused activities where individuals that may not have had an opportunity to be around horses, can come and learn about them with some guided activities and fun-filled agriculturally based activities.
Producers must participate or cooperate in an FSA program to be eligible to vote in the county committee election. 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. Also, for county committee elections, producers who are not of legal voting age, but supervise and conduct the farming operations of an entire farm, are eligible to vote.
Producers can find out if their LAA is up for election and if they are eligible to vote by contacting their local FSA county office. Customers can locate their LAA through a new GIS locator tool available at fsa.usda.gov/elections. Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot in the mail can request one from the San Saba-Mills/Lampasas-Burnet County FSA office at 325-372-3901 ext. 2 or 512-556-5572 ext. 2.