Carbon County farmers may have to travel to Northampton County to utilize a United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency office in the future.

The USDA recently announced a proposal of closing 131 FSA county offices across 32 states. In Pennsylvania, seven offices, including the Carbon/Monroe office, located at 5664 Interchange Road, Lehighton, are recommended for closure.On Feb. 6, at 2 p.m., at Big Creek Grange Hall 1559, located at 275 Grange Road, Lehighton, a public meeting, hosted by the Pennsylvania FSA Management Team, will be held to take public comment on the USDA's proposed plan to consolidate the Carbon/Monroe County office.Farmers, ranchers and anyone involved in agriculture can attend to provide their comments and express their thoughts on the consolidation.The proposal for consolidation came about after President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden launched the Administration's Campaign to Cut Waste, which called for all federal departments to look into finding ways to streamline operations and save taxpayers' money.According to a press release regarding the plans, the USDA needs to evolve to "meet the needs of the 21st century agricultural economy.""The USDA, like families and businesses across the country, cannot continue to operate like we did 50 years ago," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in the release. "We must innovate, modernize, and be better stewards of the taxpayers' dollars. We must build on the record accomplishments of farm communities in 2011 with a stronger, more effective USDA in 2012 and beyond."To accomplish this venture, the Blueprint for Stronger Service plan has been unveiled and discusses how streamlining operations throughout the country will help the USDA continue to serve farmers for years to come.The plan, according to the USDA, is based on "a review of operations that was conducted as part Obama's campaign to make government work better and more efficiently for the American people. The agency took a hard look at all USDA operations, from headquarters to field offices. The end result is a plan that will create optimal use of USDA's employees, better results for USDA customers, and greater efficiencies for American taxpayers.""In the past few decades, U.S. agriculture has become the second most productive sector of the American economy, thanks to farmers adopting technology, reducing debt, and effectively managing risk," said Vilsack. "These are lessons from which we can all learn. As we continue to invest in rural communities across the country, USDA has heard from producers about reducing red tape and the need to modernize its services. Today, we are answering the challenge by announcing a series of efforts to help us continue to streamline operations, make the best use of taxpayer resources, and provide the best possible service to the American people."In addition to the 131 FSA county offices on the chopping block, the USDA plans to close an additional 128 facilities and laboratories across the country, as well as seven foreign offices.If you cannot attend the public meeting, but would like to comment on the consolidation plan, you can provide written comment by emailing Bill Wehry, SED, at bill.wehry@pa.usda.gov or sending written comment to the Pennsylvania State FSA Office, c/o Bill Wehry, SED, 1 Credit Union Place, Suite 320, Harrisburg, PA 17110, no later than Feb. 15.The USDA reports that all public comments will be taken in to full consideration prior to development or implementation of a final consolidation plan.