Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Bud Cramer (D-Ala.) applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to set aside its efforts to close a number of Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Offices in Alabama.

"I am pleased Secretary Johanns' decided to set aside closure of the FSA offices in Alabama and across the country," said Cramer.  "Agriculture is a large and vital part of our economy in North Alabama and our farmers need the services provided by their local FSA offices."

Under the "FSA Tomorrow" plan, the Agriculture Department had planned to close 713 of the 2,351 FSA offices across the country.  Under the Department's plan, the Farm Service Agency planned to reduce the number of offices in Alabama from forty-nine to thirty-four.  The FSA was considering five offices in North Alabama for closure.

Cramer said, "I am committed to strengthening resources and assistance to our farmers to help them remain competitive in the future.  I will continue to watch the Department of Agriculture's FSA modernization plan closely and urge the Department to include input from Congress and Alabama farmers."