Barbara Jean Hunter takes pride in serving her agricultural peers as a member of her FSA county committee.
By Anthony Landrum, FSA
Barbara Jean Hunter grew up on her father’s farm in Appomattox County, Virginia, and took over the farm as an adult. Passionate about conservation, she worked with USDA to transition her farm to protect the land.
Conserving the Land
After being introduced to USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) in the early 2000s, Barbara decided to enroll her farm land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
The long-term goal of this land conservation program is to reestablish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion and reduce loss of wildlife habitat. In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality.
According to Barbara, knowing she is doing her part to conserve our natural resources is payment enough.
Serving Her Peers
Barbara served as the minority advisor of the Campbell, Amherst and Appomattox FSA County Committee until 2015, when she decided to run for election to become a committee member.
Committee members are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA. They help deliver FSA farm programs at the local level, decide the kind of programs their counties will offer and work to make FSA agricultural programs serve the needs of local producers.
Passionate about conservation, Barbara enrolled her farm in the Conservation Reserve Program.
Barbara takes pride in serving her agricultural peers. Since being elected, she has served as vice chairperson in 2016 and chairperson in 2017. Barbara began her second three-year term in 2018.
“We do our very best to help every producer, farmer or rancher we can,” she said. “Sometimes certain situations cause you to have to take corrective actions in following the rules and regulations.”
It’s during these times that Barbara witnesses and greatly recognizes the importance of a fair and honest county committee.
“Anyone can serve on a committee and always say yes, but it’s those difficult times when you must say no, that show what the committee is made of,” Barbara said. “We give everyone the benefit of doubt.”
Barbara explains that this committee works as a team. Everyone has an equal voice, and everyone strives to do the right thing.
“This is the best committee, of any sort, I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with,” she said. “We are a team, a very good team and it makes me feel great to know at the end of every meeting, we have treated every decision fairly, consistently and to the very best of our ability.”
Ballots for the 2019 county committee elections will be mailed to eligible voters the week of Nov. 4. Ballots must be returned or postmarked by Dec. 2.
More Information
USDA offers a variety of risk management, disaster assistance, loan and conservation programs to help agricultural producers in the United States weather ups and downs in the market and recover from natural disasters as well as invest in improvements to their operations. Learn about additional programs.
For more information about USDA programs and services, contact your local USDA service center.
