HOLLIDAYSBURG - The fate of Blair County's Farm Service Agency office in Hollidaysburg will be known within 90 days.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed closing 259 offices, facilities and labs nationwide, including the Farm Service Agency building at 1407 Blair St.
Bill Wehry, state executive director for USDA's Farm Service Agency, which provides financial assistance to farmers, met with about 10 people Wednesday at a public meeting at the Scotch Valley Grange Hall.
"This is just a proposal. I don't know where this is going to go," Wehry said. "This proposal will close the satellite office in Blair County if this becomes a reality. All work would be done out of the Huntingdon office, and USDA will not be paying for office space that is not used much or not at all."
The office closings are part of a departmentwide review of operations conducted as part of a governmental spending reduction plan led by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
For all intents and purposes, Wehry said the Blair office has been closed for four or five years, with the financial paperwork for Blair County farmers having been kept at the Huntingdon office.
Being a satellite office, the Blair office was only staffed when a farmer made an appointment.
"As of the past two years, not many farmers have used the office for FSA purposes," said Melissa Webreck, executive director of the Huntingdon County Farm Service Agency.
Of those at the public meeting, only two offered comment.
"On behalf of the farm families of Blair County, we oppose the closure of the Blair County FSA office," said Ken Brenneman, vice president of the Blair County Farm Bureau.
Blair County Conservation District Director Donna Fisher said the office had been available to farmers for crop reporting, but many did know that service was available to them.
Wehry said anyone else who wishes can submit written comments about the proposed closing by Feb. 10. Comments should be sent to Wehry at the USDA Pennsylvania State Office, Farm Service Agency, One Credit Union Place, Suite 320, Harrisburg, PA, 17110 or emailed to bill.wehry@pa.usda.gov.
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.
