|
Jim Reese knows that farming is a tough job. When an early freeze destroys the peach crop or a long dry spell leaves wheat plants drooping in the sun, farmers would be in bad shape if not for the Farm Service Agency. The FSA makes loans to farmers who can't get loans anywhere else, and helps them out with assistance money when bad weather or disasters damage the harvest. The uncertainty of farming puts farmers in a risky place- bad weather, disease, insects, or other problems can ruin an entire year's investment. Jim Reese and the Farm Service Agency help farmers keep farming even in the bad years, and that helps all of us by giving us safe, affordable food. |
|
| Jim says, "The best part of my job is knowing individual people that we help, and putting a face on a problem. That, and getting first-time farmers started."
|
|
| The Farm Service Agency also makes loans to high school kids for FFA and 4-H projects, and offers special loans to help first-time farmers. Some of the challenges in Jim's work are doing a lot of work quickly to meet deadlines for government farm programs, learning and keeping up to date with all the new programs that are constantly being created and revised, and knowing that not all the loans his agency makes will work out. That, and translating legislation so that its understandable to the average person. | |
| Jim picked this career because he was a former legislator from an agricultural community, and this was an opportunity to continue to work with rural people on ag concerns. Jim likes the people in Oklahoma, and he enjoys getting to know them and helping them when through the Farm Service Agency. | |