Be the Link: Being the Voice for Others

It’s time once again for the USDA Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) annual county committee elections. We're introducing you to current committee members across the nation throughout the nomination period, which runs now through Aug. 1, 2025. This week, meet Caitlin Roundtree of Parks, Nebraska.

Caitlin and her husband, Kiley, have a diversified farm, where they raise wheat, corn, milo and popcorn and have a cow-calf herd. They have one son, 6, who just marked his kindergarten graduation. Caitlin has a full-time, off-farm job as a merchandiser for a grain elevator in the area.

All of these things add up to a busy life, but not so busy that she hasn’t found time for public service. Caitlin is in the first year of her second three-year Dundy County committee term. She currently serves as the committee’s vice president.

Rooted in Agriculture

Caitlin grew up on a farm about an hour from where she presently resides. She attended Doane University in southeast Nebraska and graduated with a degree in biology, later moving south to pursue additional studies in plant pathology at Kansas State University. Along the way, she met her husband, and they eventually married and moved to rural Dundy County. 

Starting out, the couple did not have a large farm but have worked together over the past 15 years to build their cattle herd and, over the last eight to nine years, to add acres (both rented and owned).

Perspective for Public Service

Caitlin said her husband, who is originally from the area, had always been involved in local organizations, and they had discussed her becoming more involved, as well, in order to give back to the community. So, when an FSA County Committee (COC) member asked her a few years ago if she would be interested in serving, she was intrigued but admits she didn’t know much about the committee . 

After he explained the COC’s role, she decided to give it a try because she liked the idea of being a voice for local producers. 

“I am talking to farmers every day about crops, crop conditions. It’s a small community, and I have a relationship with a lot of the local farmers just because of where I work and seeing them in the community,” she said.

Caitlin said her direct farm experience and her off-farm elevator job give her good perspective for COC service because she is working through all the ups and downs of daily agricultural life, just like everyone else.

“I really enjoy being on the committee because it’s for the farmer. It’s for the producer,” she said. “It’s fighting for them when they maybe don’t have a voice and just trying to do what we can to help. That is rewarding.”

Caitlin provided praise for her local FSA office, noting that the work they do makes her job as a COC member easier. She said sometimes the position can be challenging because the COC does have to make some tough decisions, but these decisions are made in the context of maintaining consistency in programs to benefit the greater agricultural community. It’s a worthwhile cause, she said.

County committee members are elected by their peers to serve as a direct link between the agricultural community and USDA. Producers on the committee help deliver FSA farm programs at the local level, and work to make federal farm programs serve the needs of local producers. 

Each year, FSA accepts nominations for a certain Local Administrative Area (LAA); the LAA up for election rotates annually.

Caitlin encourages anyone who wants to learn more about the programs and services FSA provides to agricultural producers to consider running for their local committee.

“You can be a voice for the producer with FSA. It’s a very small amount of time when you think about it,” Caitlin said of COC service. “And it is fulfilling to get to help somebody.”

More Information

For more information on FSA county committee elections, contact your local FSA office or visit fsa.usda.gov/elections.

Bobbie Kriz-Wickham is the public affairs and outreach coordinator for FSA in Nebraska.