Only a few more days remain for farmers and ranchers to nominate themselves or someone else to serve on a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committee. The nomination deadline is Friday, Aug. 1.

County committees are an important link between the farm community and the USDA. Farmers and ranchers elected to local committees share their opinions and ideas on federal farm programs, according to the USDA.

Farmers and ranchers—veteran or novice—as well as women and minorities are encouraged to serve on a local committee. To be eligible, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administrated by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and live in the area where they’ve been nominated to serve.

Nomination forms and additional eligibility requirements are available online at www.fsa.usda.gov/elections.