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Agriculture Secretary Vilsack names Doug Caruso as Administrator of the Farm
Service Agency
WASHINGTON,
April 22, 2009 - Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
announced the appointment of Doug Caruso as Administrator of the United States
Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA).
The FSA
administers and manages farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster and loan
programs through a network of federal, state and county offices. These programs
are designed help producers manage their business risks and improve the
stability and strength of the domestic agricultural economy.
"As FSA State Executive Director in Wisconsin for 8 years, Doug Caruso compiled
an impressive record of improving client services and enhancing outreach to
historically underserved farmers," said Vilsack. "He is the right choice to
serve Americas farmers, ranchers, rural landowners and communities that benefit
from FSA's services and to implement USDA's goals of providing a safety-net for
small and mid-sized farmers while promoting a sustainable, safe, sufficient and
nutritious food supply."
Caruso returns to USDA after working as CEO of Wisconsin Farmers Union Specialty
Cheese, a cheese manufacturing startup and producer of award-winning Blue and
Gorgonzola products that he helped develop into a profitable operation with
expanded market share. From 1993 to 2001, Caruso was at USDA as State Executive
Director of FSA in
Wisconsin,
which served approximately 100,000 farmers and rural landowners through a
network of sixty county offices. From 1989 to 1993, he worked as State Director
for United States Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) and before that as general
manager and communications director for the nation's sixth largest farmer-owned
milk marketing cooperative.
While at FSA in
Wisconsin,
Caruso participated in multi-agency USDA initiatives and worked on the initial
implementation of the Milk Income Loss Contract payment program in 2000. He led
his state to develop labor and client service practices that were adopted by
other states and the national office, and limited loan delinquencies to among
the lowest in the nation. During his tenure at FSA, Caruso engaged producers of
color in the design and delivery of an employee training program to enhance
outreach to historically underserved farmers. In 2000, he was honored by FSA as
"Outstanding State Executive Director" for "exemplary leadership, superior
management skills, and significant contributions to the betterment of the Farm
Service Agency at all levels."
Caruso is a member of the USDA/USTR Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee on
Dairy and of the International Dairy Committee. He resides in Middleton, Wisc.,
with his wife Judy, an information technology executive at the University of
Wisconsin - Madison. They have two children: Anthony, an accountant, and Emily,
a chemist.
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