USDA’s Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers will be holding a public meeting next Wednesday and Thursday, December 15th and 16th, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Secretary of the USDA on the development, administration, and improvement of USDA’s beginning farmer programs.

The meeting will be open for public comments on December 15th.  Anyone interested in making a comment should submit their request in writing to Quintin Robinson at quinton.robinson@dm.usda.gov by noon on Monday, December 13.

This will be the first meeting of the Advisory Committee since the start of the Obama Administration.  The Committee was authorized by Congress in 1992 as part of a larger beginning farmer credit initiative championed by NSAC and its member organizations, and began meeting in 1998.

Current Committee members include two representatives of NSAC member organizations: Traci Bruckner with the Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska and Maria Moreira with Flats Mentor Farm in Massachusetts.

Administration of the Committee was transferred within USDA from the Farm Service Agency to the Office of Advocacy and Outreach as a result of the 2008 Farm Bill.

For more information on the upcoming meeting, see the Federal Register notice here or contact Quintin Robinson at (202) 720–3058.