I'm an American farmer — empty USDA offices means fewer family farms

Believe it or not, it’s possible for federal agricultural policy to not just fail in Washington. It can also fail when there’s no one left in a local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) office to help farmers put programs into practice. I’ve seen that reality up close, after spending more than three decades serving producers as a district conservationist with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

My job wasn’t to sit behind a desk. It was to sit across the table from farmers...