Oregon FSA members welcomed Japanese visitors who came to learn about the Geographical Information Systems. From l to r: Kent Willett, FSA GIS specialist; Hiroaki Shima, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo, Japan; Lynn Voigt, FSA Oregon state executive director; Ikeda Ryuki, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tokyo, Japan.
Members of the Consulate-General of Japan and the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture met with the Oregon Farm Service Agency on Thursday to learn how USDA uses Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data to assist with program compliance.
“They were interested in knowing how our organizational structure and administrative processes help assure integrity in processing Farm Program payments,” said Lynn Voigt, state executive director, Oregon Farm Service Agency.
The group also visited the Clackamas-Multnomah County FSA Office where they attended a portion of a county committee meeting and saw a demonstration using the Common Land Unit layer of the GIS.
“They were excited to learn how county committees are used to help assure that we take into account local conditions and local issues. They were also intrigued by the way we use the ‘misinformation-misaction’ process to bring fairness and equity to circumstances that would otherwise seem unreasonable,” said Voigt.
