Nominations are complete and the next step in the county committee election process for Butler-Beaver-Allegheny County Local Administrative Area No. 3 is the mailing out of the ballots, which began on Friday. Voters have until Dec. 4 to return their ballots to the county office.

FSA County Committee members make important decisions on how federal farm programs fit the needs of Pennsylvania producers. FSA County Committees make decisions on commodity price support loans and payments, establishment of allotments and yields, conservation programs, incentive, indemnity and disaster payments for some commodities and other farm disaster assistance.

The FSA County Committee system, established in the 1930s, gives local farmers and ranchers a much needed say in how farm programs are administered at the grass-roots level. It is vital that all eligible farmers and ranchers vote in this year's election to ensure that these committees represent the interests of all producers in a community.

If you are on the Farm Service Agency mailing list, chances are you are an eligible voter. Anyone who meets the requirements in the first or second, plus third categories, below, is eligible to vote:

• Be of legal voting age and have an interest in a farm or ranch as either of the following:

• An owner, operator, tenant or sharecropper.

• A partner in a general partnership or member of a joint venture that has an interest in a farm as an owner, operator, tenant or sharecropper.

• Not of legal voting age, but supervises and conducts the farming operations on an entire farm.

• Eligible to participate in any FSA program that is provided by law, regardless of the status of funding.

Candidates on the ballot in Local Administrative Area No. 3, which covers the following townships in Butler County — Cranberry, Jackson, Adams, Forward, Middlesex, Penn, Clinton, Jefferson, Buffalo and Winfield — are:

• Harold W. Foertsch — Foertsch operates Har-Lo Farms based in Jefferson Township. Foertsch, along with family members, produces hay, corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, potatoes and onions on 1,300 rented and owned acres. Har-Lo Farms also raises beef cattle. Foertsch currently serves as chairman on the County FSA committee. He is also a member of the Butler Onion Network and the Butler Farm Show board of directors.

• Edward W. Thiele — Thiele operates a dairy farm along with his wife, Lorraine, and twin sons. Thiele Dairy Farm producers milk for Marburger Dairy. The total Holstein herd size is around 100 head. Thiele is a member of the Butler County Farm Bureau where he previously served on the board of directors. The Thiele farm was the first farm in Butler County to be permanently protected through the Agricultural Preservation Program.

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