Finnarn appointed to head farm service agency

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GREENVILLE—Local Attorney and Farmer Ted Finnarn has been appointed by President Joe Biden through the office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and Secretary of USDA Tom Vilsack to be the Chairman of the Ohio Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Committee (STC). The appointment became effective at the beginning of the year (Feb. 2022) and Finnarn was the sole member of the STC until the other committee appointees came on board by Sept/Oct 2022. Dr. John Patterson, former State Rep. (D) of Ashtabula County has been named as the State Director (SED).

The FSA is responsible for administering Federal Farm programs, including oversight of all aspects of these programs and County Committee operations, resolving program delivery Appeals, maintaining cooperative relations with Ag industry stakeholders, keeping producers informed about FSA programs and operating in a manner consistent with USDA equal opportunity and civil rights policies. Finnarn of rural Greenville, Neave Township, is the fourth generation on his family’s farm, having raised registered Shorthorn and Whiteface beef cattle along with his late Father and Grandfather, the business having been known as “W. O. Finnarn & Sons Farms”. Today the farm consists of row crop agriculture, Corn and Soybeans, with several Conservation practices thrown in for good measure.

As an Ohio Ag Lawyer, Finnarn has spent many years serving the needs of and providing counsel to agricultural producers in West Central Ohio. Admitted to the Bar in 1976, Finnarn is a private practitioner but has served stints as County Court Judge and as a Public Defender. Finnarn is active in civic and agricultural organizations including Darke County Extension, the Ohio Farmers Union and the Ohio Farm Bureau. Finnarn is the longest serving member of the Ohio Dept. of Taxation’s CAUV Advisory Committee (47 years) and helped to write the original legislation and regulations for the CAUV. He is known across Ohio as “Mr. CAUV.”