DECEMBER 2017 TASCOE Tales Merry Christmas · 12-12-2017 · Merry Christmas Page 5 There are many tangible, visible benefits to TASCOE membership. GREAT benefits. Benefits that

T A S C O E Ta l e s

I will keep this article short and sweet. I hope every-one had a Happy Thanksgiving. It’s hard to believe Christmas will be here in a few short weeks. It has been a busy year for FSA and TASCOE. It’s always such a great feeling to wrap up grass certification and know we have that behind us. Many have been working nonstop on disaster programs, either because of drought or because of Hurricane Harvey. We have been faced with many challenges and chang-es this past year, but continue to succeed and face these changes head on.

The Executive Board recently traveled to Waco for our organi-zational meeting. We had a suc-cessful meeting and I am certain, Waco will prove to be another great location for our conven-tion. There are so many attrac-tions for your family to see while we complete TASCOE business during the day. I hope everyone makes plans to attend next year’s convention.

I know there continue to be questions about our budget and reorganization. Please know, as soon as we receive information we forward it on to you. Many times, this information is sent to your home emails. I know I have said it many times, but please remember to sign up for

NASCOE updates on the NAS-COE website. Also, make sure TASCOE also has your updated email address. Many times we receive information to that has to be sent to home emails and can not be sent to our govern-ment emails.

As we close out 2017, I hope each of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy time with friends and family. Thanks for all that you do for TASCOE and FSA. As always, if you need anything, please let me know.

from the desk of the President . . . . . .

Inside this issue:

Secretary/Treasurer Report 2

Membership Report 3

Awards Report 4

Benefits Report 5

Legislative Report 6

NAFEC Report 7

Programs Report 8

Scholarship Report 9

Emblems Report 10

Publicity Report 11

District News 12-14

DECEMBER 2017

Merry Christmas

The TASCOE Mission

1. To strive to maintain and improve the confidence, esteem, and respect of the

public for the FSA County Employees and for the Farm Service Agency

Committees

2. To promote the welfare of Texas Farmers and Texas Agriculture

3. To cooperate with the Texas State FSA Committee, the State Executive Director,

and staff to improve the FSA in Texas

4. To place FSA county office employees on an equal basis with privileges of other

Federal employees

5. To promote the professional improvement of its membership

We’re on the web!

tascoe.org

Follow us on Facebook!

Texas Association of FSA County

Office Employees

Oh, my goodness, how is it already December! As I write this I am already crossing writing my article off the to do list. That list can get very long for everyone this time of year with all the hustle

and bustle of getting ready for the holidays. Something I always try to remember myself is not to get caught up and forget the real

reason for this joyous time of the year, Jesus. He is the greatest gift that we can receive and with our busy schedules we tend to not take

the time to remember Him.

The officers just had our organizational meeting in Waco and I hope everyone is marking their calendars to attend the 2018 TASCOE Convention there. The dates for convention

are July 19th-21st. So, make sure to mark your calendars! There is lots to do in Waco and the Hilton is a very nice hotel.

As I mentioned in my last article this will be my last year to serve as Secretary/Treasurer. If you have ever wanted to serve in TASCOE this is a great opportunity. I will be around another year serving as Past Secretary/Treasurer to help the next person transition and learn. If you are interested and have any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will be glad to talk.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Page 2 TASCOE Tales

Secretary/Treasurer Report

Be sure and take advantage of this great opportunity over the next

year!

This is not a benefit exclusive to TASCOE/NASCOE so be sure

and spread the word to members and non-members alike!

Offer expires in 2019, so if you are looking at upgrading your

personal PC in the next year or so this would save you a TON in

software expenses!

This notification went to all of us at work, but if you missed it, reach

out to your IT folks - this is for ALL of USDA.

TASCOE Tales is a quarterly publication of your Texas

Employee Association. Tales is released every March, June,

September, and December with submissions being due the month prior. If you have something you

would like to submit for Tales, make sure you let any TASCOE Director, officer, or chair know! We do our very best to bring you an informative newsletter 4 times a year. These are sent to home

emails, so watch yours!

Need more info? The Southwest Area Ramblin’s bulletin is

released every quarter as well in January, April, July, and

October. Eight times a year you can get amazing NASCOE and

state affiliate information. Check the TASCOE website at

www.tascoe.org/why-join/tascoe-tales/ for the latest Tales and

Ramblin’s releases.

Page 3 Merry Christmas

Is everyone in your office a NASCOE/

TASCOE member? Have you hired

new employees that might not know

what NASCOE is or why it is

important to be a member?

Membership is the backbone of our

organization, as our workforce

continues to decrease and we continue

to be asked to do more with less,

membership becomes even MORE

important. Remember, if our

membership percentage falls below 51%,

management no longer has to have an

audience with us and listen to our

program suggestions, ask for our input,

protect our benefits, or be very

concerned at all about our general well-

being. If you have questions about our

organization, what exactly it is we do, or

need help convincing a co-worker to

join, visit with our Membership

Committee person, your District

TASCOE Director, or any of our

TASCOE Executives.

Membership

Page 4 TASCOE Tales

Committee – Co Chairs – Shonda Elliott

Tanya Bell

Members - Karen Williams

Torrie Gilleland

Emry Letz

Hey everyone!

We are currently accepting nominations for 2017 awards! Our deadline for these nominations is January 1, 2018, so we ask that you start getting those nominations in soon. We understand that the lack of face to face trainings and the new hires over the past several years, may have us a little unfamiliar with fellow employees in some areas, and you may not know the answers to all of the questions when it comes to the nominations, but that’s what Tanya and I are here for. Contact us and we will help you in any way we can to nominate a deserving employee of these awards, and if we don’t know the answer, we will try our hardest to find it. This is also another amazing reason to attend our annual TASCOE meeting during the summer, to become more familiar with one another and to get more involved. We’re all in this together!

At our state level, we award 1 CED and 1 PT in the three following categories:

Service To Community

Service To Agriculture

Service To TASCOE/NASCOE

From those winners, we choose one from each category to submit to the Southwest Area Chair and committee for judging. From that point, the SWA chair submits the award winners to the National Level for consideration. Anyone that has received an award cannot be considered again in that particular category. For anyone that has submitted a nomination on a member in the past that was not chosen, feel free to send those in again. This might be their lucky year!

Also, you may at any time submit a nomination for the “Extra Mile Award”- this award is for TASCOE members or IMMEDIATE FAMILY members who go that "Extra Mile" at work, home, or school. This nomination form is also located on the NASCOE website at www.nascoe.org. Please don’t hesitate to call or email with any questions, we will be happy to help in any way!

Sick Leave awards – These are calculated each year based off of the previous year’s dues transmittals, so please, please fill those out as accurately as possible. The following is awarded each year:

1000 hours – Certificate



2500 hours – Plaque



We owe a BIG Thank you to our awards committee for your work. Our deadline is right in the middle of the holidays, but these ladies always seem to get their votes back in and allow us to meet our deadlines for Southwest Area. You gals are awesome!

Please submit your nominations online at www.nascoe.org. If you have any questions at a l l , p l e a s e s e n d t h o s e t o S h o n d a . e l l i o t t @ t x . u s d a . g o v o r [email protected], or call Shonda Elliott at 806-347-2263 ext 109 or Tanya Bell at 940-549-6523 ext 2.

Distinguished Service Awards are

available for:

Service to Community

Service to FSA/Agriculture

Service to TASCOE/NASCOE

DSA nomination deadline = January 1! Instructions and links can be found at tascoe.org/why-join/awards

Awards

Legends In 2015, the Board of Directors voted to

create a new award to recognize current and former TASCOE members who have made

significant contributions of service and leadership to TASCOE and left a lasting

impact on the association and its members. This award is reserve for those who have gone above and beyond and is only awarded when

the Board of Directors agrees that a nominated individual is truly deserving of the

TASCOE Legends honor.

Extra Mile The NASCOE Extra Mile awards program is a non-competitive award in which certificates are issued to recognize the accomplishments or military service of NASCOE members and

their children.

For more information on DSA’s, Legends, and Extra Mile awards, visit tascoe.org/why-

join/awards/


There are many tangible, visible benefits to TASCOE membership. GREAT benefits. Benefits that have been hard-won and benefits that could disappear. However, the greatest of all TASCOE benefits is the one that can not be seen, can not be measured, and can not be lost. This is the benefit of our FSA network/family/clan/tribe. Networking is more about “farming” than it is about “hunting”. It is about cultivating relationships. How do we network? Becoming engaged with other members at State Conventions, Area Rallies, and National Conventions.

All FSA employees have benefits as part of their employment with the federal government. As employees, we have:

Annual and sick leave

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Life Insurance

Equal pay scale to sister agencies

TASCOE provides additional benefits with membership in the association. These include:

Legislative Representation

Political Action Opportunities

Distinguished Service Awards

Scholarships

COC Support

As TASCOE members, we also have opportunities for discounts on auto and home insurance, legal advice, supplemental health and life insurance, retirement planning assistance, and special deals on travel, shopping, movie, theme parks, ski tickets, cell service, Broadway entertainment, and more!

Visit us at https://tascoe.org/why-join/benefits/ for more info or reach out to the TASCOE Benefits Chair, Kyle Longoria.

This is the glue that holds us all together - it provides a unity & strength for our profession. We work together, have fun together

& rely on one another.

Benefits

Submitted by: Christa Kraatz, TASCOE Legislative Chair

Kristal Jackson, member

Dawna Hines, member

Wow, what a year?! In the good times, the bad, the wet, then now the dry…we always find a way to come together as an agency. Many times we find ways to help our fellow colleagues, friends or family members, or even a stranger. Maybe

we said a few kind words, listened to them, cried with them, gave them our moral support, or we just gave them our time. We showed we cared because that’s what we do as Texans and as kind hearted and thoughtful human beings.

You all showed me and others that you cared, many times over. We care about what we do and I will always appreciate the time given to me to talk to you folks about our NASCOE PAC. My excitement comes from knowing you all believe in our association, our agency, and what we do for our producers. I am proud of our PAC and our PAC contributors. I am proud of all you!

Here’s to our VOICE and our INVESTMENT in our future. Please remind folks about the PAC.

Last year we had 113 Southwest Area (SWA) PAC enrollees, this year we have 187. Texas helped gain those numbers. We added more than we lost because of retirement or job promotions. We have 66 total contributors in 2017, which represents 35% of the SWA. However, we have only 18% of our total 359 members enrolled. We have growth potential here folks. We are a BIG state with a great workforce. Please refer to the table and see for yourself.

Southwest Area # of PAC Participants $ Amt./PP # of Members % Enrolled in PAC

California/Hawaii 3 15 55 5%

Nevada 0 0 7 0%

Arizona 3 10 17 18%

Utah 5 19 27 19%

Colorado 7 40 75 9%

New Mexico 8 39 29 28%

Kansas 49 224 343 14%

Oklahoma 46 267 174 26%

Texas 66 303 359 18%

SWA Total 187 917 1086

Here are some other charts regarding our NASCOE PAC. SWA is third in overall PAC enrollment, but we are second in PAC contributions. Please help us do more!

Total PAC Enrollments Total PAC Contributions

NWA 78 $340

SWA 187 $917

MWA 192 $881

NEA 51 $214

SEA 218 $969

Total 726 $3,321

Note: These enrollment numbers are current with PP 22 - FY 17 payroll figures.

Please remember, you all helped our numbers increase this year. YOU DID THAT! It goes to show we have room to GROW!! So again I challenge you all directors and chairs to make more folks aware about the PAC.

If you are interested in informing others about our PAC we have some PowerPoint slides we can share with you or a group. If you need assistance with an enrollment or increase form please contact myself, Christa Kraatz [email protected] or Robert Payne (SWA Legislative Chair) at [email protected].

If you are not a PAC contributor then we need you to please become one. We need every member to get involved by at least becoming a PAC contributor. Invest in your future, invest in our association’s voice.

Page 6 TASCOE Tales

Remember: If you don’t have a seat at the table, you are very likely on the menu . . .

Legislative

As you gear up for your January organizational meetings and welcoming new and returning members to your COC meetings, be sure and have the NAFEC information handy. That first meeting of the year – every year – is a great day to get your COC onboard with NAFEC. While you’re at it – become an associate member yourself!!

1. NAFEC is the greatest ally for CED’s and PT’s under the COF system of government.

2. The best way COC members can support their local staff is by joining NAFEC.

3. NAFEC has the ear of Congress and the Administration.

4. NAFEC has a lobbyist working in Washington D.C. on your behalf. David Senter is the NAFEC WDC Consultant much like Hunter Moorhead is for NASCOE

5. NAFEC leadership is made up of COC members who are passionate about grassroots input.

6. NAFEC membership includes a $1,000 accidental life insurance policy from JM Marketing and the availability of many insurance products at group rates (health/major medical, dental, vision, life, cancer, critical illness, long term care, etc) that your COC members and their families may need. With healthcare such a huge issue, don’t overlook how important these insurance products may be to some of your members who do not have the advantage of government insurance.


Online at fsacountycommittees.org And on Facebook by simply searching NAFEC

NAFEC

History & Benefits of the County Committee system of Government

Formed in the early 1930’s by the Roosevelt Administration. The intent was to deliver farm programs utilizing farmers and ranchers for the delivery. The first committee’s were called County Control Associations and were elected by a County Convention of delegates. Later the Control Associations were called County Committee’s and the election by convention evolved into an election by popular vote.

In the early days the Committee’s ran the offices. Temporary employees worked in the field and during signup. Later managers and directors were hired to run the local office, always maintaining the control at the county committee level for which these employees worked.

These committee’s were patterned after the private sector. Similar to bank boards, cooperative boards, school board’s etc. local input into Federal programs made the agency one of the most successful ever invented.

Just as Abraham Lincoln envisioned when USDA began, the FSA County Committee system is truly a great example of USDA the “People’s Department”. The FSA County Committee’s provide all of the following in meeting this objective.

Democracy In Action – The only grassroots form of the Federal Government located at the local level

For the People – To ensure fair, effective and efficient implementation of Federal Farm Program’s

By the People – Locally elected Committee members by the people they represent

Page 8 TASCOE Tales

Do you follow the program submissions and national responses that NASCOE handles on your behalf? Here are just a few changes that have occurred through this

county office driven process. How many of these program suggestions came from TASCOE??

CCMS interface with Subsidiary for AGI

ISSUE: CRP approvals require AGI forms on file prior to approval. FACTS: CRP-1s approved prior to obtaining applicable AGI requires STO and National Office attention.

SOLUTION: Would it be possible to modify the software to read from the subsidiary file? CRP software should be modified to read the AGI file similar to payment processes for the CRP approval process. NATIONAL OFFICE RESPONSE: We have been working on adding the ability to check if AGI has been filed at time of contract revision/division approval and development for this new functionality is approved but has not yet started due to resource constraints. After the enhancement is moved into production, additional information will be provided to the field on the use of the new functionality.

Bridges to Opportunity Enhancement

ISSUE: Bridges to Opportunity – New Customer Interaction – Receipt for Service It is possible to make the menus for the customer service, items provided to customer, items received from customer, and receipt drop-down menus, instead of the current scroll menus. FACTS: When trying to see which options to choose, it is hard to find them because you only see four options at a time. SOLUTION: Would it be possible to incorporate drop down menus to see more available options. NATIONAL OFFICE RESPONSE: We have discussed various ways to make that aspect of the application more user friendly. We will pursue improvements as you suggest in the coming weeks and months. One solution that may be possible is having autocomplete fields in which one starts typing what they want and a list of possibilities are shown. This may be even more effective than drop down menus. Either way, we will be improving the interface soon.

MIDAS Farm Records Enhancement

ISSUE: Farm record changes such as ownership changes, operator changes, and other tenants. FACTS: Handbook policy requires notification of farm record changes. SOLUTION: MIDAS software will generate an automatic FSA-476 in letter form to notify reconstitution participants of changes to base acres. Would it be possible to

enhance the software to generate a letter when changes are made to ownership, operation and tenants added? It would be more efficient if the software automatically generated a letter, and it

would save employees time. NATIONAL OFFICE RESPONSE: Thank you for the suggestion on automating the notification

letters when producer changes occur on a farm. I agree that this would benefit the county offices and help insure that the required notification letters are being sent to all applicable producers. I will add this to our list of software

enhancements, though implementing this change will be up to prioritization and budget. Additionally, another specialist, who handles the policy side of Farm Records, and I have discussed the need to have a standard letter available in 10-CM to be used when notifying the associated producers when any acreage change occurs on a farm . We hope to have this standard letter included in a future amendment to 10-CM. Just to name a few more: Conservation User Guides, ARCPLC Enrollment Reports, COLS Search Enhancement, NAP NCT Prices, NAP Reports in CVS Format, LFP Animal Units, TAP Cost Share Extensions . . . . And that’s just since September!!

Programs


I could have sworn that we just sent our TASCOE kids off to their first day of school yesterday. Somewhere in the middle of ARC/PLC contracts and grass certifications, I lost track of time. I cannot believe that winter break is here! What are you going to do with your college age kids that are just sitting at home for a couple of weeks? Well, we have an idea! They can apply for scholarships! We have a couple major deadlines quickly approaching.

NASCOE Scholarship Deadline: January 1, 2018. Deadline includes online submission of the scholarship and e-mail s u p p o r t i ng d o c u me n t a t i o n t o [email protected].

What does the scholarship cover?

Traditional Scholarship

This award may only be used to defray expenses for a graduating high school senior or first-year college freshman enrolled as a full time student with a minimum of 12 hours at an accredited college, university or trade school. Applicants must be a NASCOE member’s child, or a member’s legal dependent.

Open Continuing Education Scholarship

This award may only be used to defray expenses for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th year, or graduate student continuing their education at an accredited college, university or trade school while carrying 6 or more credit hours per semester. Applicants must be a NASCOE member, member’s spouse, member’s child, member’s legal dependent, or member's grandchild.

Member Continuing Education

The applicants must be a NASCOE member continuing their education at an accredited college, university or trade school.

Continuing Education for Adult Children of Members

This award may only be used to defray expenses for a Member’s adult child continuing their education as required or encouraged through their employer for 5 or less credit hours a semester. Applicants must be a member’s child, member’s legal dependent, or member's grandchild.

Grandchildren Scholarship

This award may be used to defray expenses for a student continuing their education enrolled at an accredited college, university or trade school while carrying 12 or more credit hours per semester. Applicants must be a member's grandchild.

Associate Member Scholarship

This award may only be used to defray expenses for an associate member, an associate member’s spouse, an associate member’s child, grandchild or legal dependent enrolled as a student with a minimum of 6 hours of enrollment at an accredited college, university or trade school.

TASCOE Scholarship Deadline: February 20, 2018. Please e-mail applications and supporting documentation to:

TASCOE Scholarship Committee

Attn: Julie Goetzman

711 N. Velasco, Ste D.

Angleton, Texas 77515

or, email to [email protected]

Who is the TASCOE Scholarship for?

Current TASCOE members, their spouses, and their children/legal dependents are eligible for one of five $1000 TASCOE scholarships awarded annually. TASCOE members must be a current permanent FSA county office employee with dues paid and membership current for the past 5 consecutive years or since becoming a permanent FSA county office employee, whichever is less. Applicants may be either a high school senior or full-time college student, up to the Bachelor Degree level. A minimum of a “C” average in both junior and senior years of high school or as a college student is required.

Members, it is never too early to start thinking about scholarship auction items. There are some great deals that can be found at after Christmas sales. Remember, it benefits our TASCOE youth and it is a tax write off for you!

Sincerely,

The Scholarship/Emblems Committee

TASCOE Scholarship deadline = February 1 NASCOE Scholarships are also available with an earlier deadline

Application and instructions available at tascoe.org/why-join/scholarships

Scholarships

Page 10 TASCOE Tales

The NASCOE Emblems Store is now

back open for business. The site was

closed so all FSA logo merchandise

could be removed.

Per the USDA Office of

Communications, the USDA logo is

the official and sole identifying mark

for the Department and all agencies.

Therefore, the FSA logo is no longer

offered on merchandise. However, the

full line of merchandise is available

with your choice of the USDA,

NASCOE or RASCOE logos.

Emblems A percentage of all emblem sales goes toward our scholarship funds both at the state and

national level. All emblem sales during the TASCOE convention helps fund our

TASCOE scholarships - online emblem sales through the NASCOE website helps fund

the NASCOE scholarships. Just another great way to support our FSA youngsters!

There’s nothing like being in a room full of like-minded

people.

You discover that you’re not alone in wanting to improve the image of FSA and bring something back

to your office - you are not the only one that is proud of the outfit you work for, proud of your COC, proud of your

producers.

The money you spend to attend a rally or convention is an investment in your future at FSA. It’s investing in yourself - it’s admitting that you still have things to learn and that you can get

better. It’s admitting that you’re worth it.


One of my favorite things that I bring home from rallies and conventions is perspective. It never fails that I engage in conversation with someone, if even only while hustling between break-out sessions, that has a different point of view than I do and it always makes me stop and rethink my opinion. Maybe it’s just getting out of MY chair in MY office in MY town that does it, or maybe it’s something that only a professional development atmosphere creates. But I come home sharpened and energized -

ready to approach my daily tasks from a different direction - and it really brings life back into my daily routines.

It never fails that after attending one of these events, I add another contact to IM, see another Facebook friend from FSA, and broaden my pool of FSA idols and mentors. These are healthy connections. I feel that if we are not networking, we get stuck reinventing the wheel over and over again. Every rally, every convention, could also be

If you haven’t been to one of these, you are in for a treat! Join us and be inspired!

Publicity

Southwest Area Rally

Colorado Springs, CO

April 26-28, 2018

called a training. And this isn’t just the learning of new things, but the relearning of the classics. Yes, it is all written down somewhere. Yeah, you could get neck-deep in handbooks and devour information

and learn all the same things, probably - but there’s just something about cutting through all the clutter with a 2 minute conversation. As you make decisions about Colorado Springs, Waco, and Sioux Falls, be sure that decision making process does not end with what the trip may cost, but carries through to what benefits you will see in the coming months after you return to your office.

Page 12 TASCOE Tales

District News

District 12

Fayette/Lee County Feds Feed Families food drive donation to the local food pantry as well as donations for flooded victims of

Hurricane Harvey.

Members of District 12 that attended the TASCOE Convention in Lubbock

Left to Right: Levi Garlick, CED Fayette/Lee; Michael Williams, CED Robertson; Kay Schielack, Fayette/Lee; Melissa

Galipp, Fayette/Lee; Julie Goetzman, CED Brazoria/Galveston; Kevin Humphrey, CED Milam.

1500 Sick Leave Hours Award for Melissa Galipp, Fayette/Lee County FSA


District News

Nathan Barron 3 ½ year old, grandson of Kathy Williams, CED Childress County

Grandchildren help us remember that special joy of

Christmas we had as a child.

District 3

District 15

Nueces County PT Marcy Logan and

husband AJ welcomed twin

daughters, Leighton and

Lynleigh, on May 24, 2017. Also pictured is big

sister Aubrey (4).

District 6

View from the porch in Schleicher-Val Verde-

Sutton Counties!


District News

District 7

Happy Birthday, Angela!

Angela Hicks, Clay/Jack County FSA

This is Hattie Nichole Krogstad. She was born on

November 14th (3 weeks early) and weighed

7lbs 4oz and was 20 ¼ inches long. This is the

5th grandchild for Angela Hicks, Clay/Jack

County PT.

Jeannine P. Wendel, Young CED holding her official 30 year certificate along with Young County Committee: Billy R. Atwood, Cody B. Riddle, Julia E. Campbell and District

Director #7, Creed Newman.

Joseph P. Wendel (19), son of Young CED

Jeannine P. Wendel, proudly holding his

class year as a freshman @ Texas A&M –

WHOOP!

Jillian P. Wendel (16), daughter of Young CED Jeannine P.

Wendel, proudly holding one of the Lady Blues Varsity volleyball

team trophy’s after a playoff game. Lady Blues had a great

season being District, Bi-District and Area Champs. Jillian was

named one of the District Academic All-Star players this

season.

Documents

DECEMBER 2017 TASCOE Tales Merry Christmas · 12-12-2017 · Merry Christmas Page 5 There are many tangible, visible benefits to TASCOE membership. GREAT benefits. Benefits that