Seeing a handful of local newspapers covering the retirement of some long time FSA employees. One here was able to become a minister while working as a CED. This reports on 3 leaving one county. These employees have worked about 30 years, meaning they were hired in the first half of the 1980's.
From my perspective program activity ramped up quickly in the 80's. Some highlights, or lowlights: We had the new farm bill in 1981 and those *#^%$&$ in Congress came up with the idea of "advance payments". Although the law said disaster payments were phased out, Reagan made a deal with the boll weevil Democrats to do a disaster program in 1983 for West Texas. Then a smart Asst. Secretary and a cooperating general counsel came up with the Payment in Kind program to get rid of CCC-owned grain and idle land. Meanwhile KCMO was testing a minicomputer in a county office in 1983 and, if I recall, we started implementing the IBM System/36 in 1985, only to run into the new farm bill in 1986 with it's 0/92 and conservation compliance and tightened payment limitation rules....
Bottom line: these retirees went through a lot, almost none of which will ever make the history books.
Thank you.
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