713 Farm Service Offices Spared From Closure
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The Agriculture Department will abandon plans to close more than 700 Farm Service Agency offices across the U.S. because of widespread opposition in Congress, an official said.
A hearing had been scheduled Thursday in the Senate Agriculture Committee. But in a letter sent to Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Agriculture Department Undersecretary J.B. Penn said the agency was scrapping the plan to close 713 of the 2,351 Farm Service offices.
Chambliss said the department had failed to demonstrate that closures would result in better service for producers. Department officials contended that farmers were getting poor service because of understaffed offices and outdated technology.
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