Change is constant. Change also provides for opportunities.

I want to notify all the area farmers, farm owners, agricultural organizations and agencies effective today I will no longer be the county executive director of the Farm Service Agency at the Butler Service Center.

I have had the executive director position for the last 28 years. As such, I have made countless friends and colleagues along the way. As with any job, many challenges were encountered. Each one presented an opportunity for success.

I feel honored to have worked with such a great group of people that helped me achieve successful results all these years. The farmers of Butler, Beaver and Allegheny Counties are the best and I appreciate their support over the years.

For some of these operations I have worked with three generations of the family farm. And although change is constant, for the most part of my CED career area farmers have continued to struggle financially — that has not changed.

I have been selected for the agricultural supervisory district director position to oversee 22 counties in the northwest and north central part of Pennsylvania.

My duty station will remain in the Butler Service Center but will entail traveling throughout the district.

At this point, the course of action to backfill my position is undetermined. The county committee meets on Dec. 8 to start the process.

On an interim basis (which could exceed one year) Luke Vogel, county executive director in Mercer/Lawrence, will manage the Butler Service Center.

Vogel is a Butler County native and will know many of the producers. So while there is change, the one constant will be the same superior service producers are accustomed to at the Butler Service Center.

County committee election

Ballots for the county committee election were mailed out Nov. 7 for Local Administrative Area 2 & 4. Voters have until Dec. 5 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. 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.

Local Administrative Area 2Local Administrative Area 2 covers the following townships in Butler County — Muddy Creek, Franklin, Lancaster, Connoquenessing, Center, Butler, Oakland, Summit, Donegal and Clearfield.These are the candidates:- Leroy Bergbigler — Dairy farmers in Clearfield Township, Butler County, Bergbigler and his wife, Mary, and their oldest daughter, Marybeth, work full time on a farm of about 300 acres. They grow hay, corn, and soybeans for their dairy herd of 125 cows.- Larry McCall — McCall’s farm is in Donegal Township, Butler County. He owns 75 acres and rents another 90 acres. He raises corn, hay and oats. He has lived there for 49 years. He and his wife recently celebrated 50 years of marriage on June 20 and have two grown children. He recently sold his beef herd.

Local Administrative Area 4Local Administrative Area 4 is Beaver County north of the Ohio River.These are the candidates:- Myron Bonzo — His farm is in New Sewickley Township, Beaver County. Bonzo farms with his wife, Lori, two sons and a daughter. They grow corn, wheat and alfalfa on 200 acres. They milk 40 registered Holsteins, raise all heifers and sell bulls for breeding stock.- Michael Carreon — His farm is in Darlington Township, Beaver County. He plants 120 acres on a corn — soybean rotation. He also runs around 30 Angus pairs on a highly managed grazing plan, often moving two to three times a day. He is a member of Farm Bureau, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Pa. Cattleman’s Association, American Angus Association and maintains working relationships with both the Beaver County Conservation District and the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.- Christine Fischer — Fischer’s farm is in Franklin Township, Beaver County. She and her husband, Steve, milk registered Jerseys and process, bottle and sell some of their milk in their family store on the farm. The milk they don’t process is shipped to a local dairy plant for processing. They now operate her husband’s family farm along with their two grown children, Lindsay and Matt, and their families. They produce hay, soybeans and corn on 120 acres and rent an additional 50 acres.

Luke Fritz was executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.