The year was 1974. It was the days of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service at USDA. Donna Ferguson was 17 and had just graduated from Beech Grove High School. She was looking for a job.

“My mother worked for USDA in the Agricultural Plant Health Inspection Service, and learned of an opening here,” Ferguson recalls. “She encouraged me to apply, noting it was decent pay with good benefits. I applied, got the job and never left.”

That’s until now, more than 45 years later, when she’s retiring. Ferguson was hired by Bill Johnson, then Indiana state executive director of ASCS, which is now the Farm Service Agency, as a clerk to assist his secretary. Within a couple of years, she became the state executive director’s secretary, and held that post until three years ago, when she officially became the Indiana FSA public affairs and outreach coordinator.

You may have never met Ferguson personally. If you called the state FSA office, you likely talked to her. She was often the one directing callers to someone who could answer questions. If you use USDA services, you’ve benefited from her work. She makes sure county offices receive information about farm programs. Much of that information is passed along to you.

9 bosses

Some people have trouble adjusting to one boss, let alone nine. That’s how many state directors Ferguson served in 45 years, and that’s if you count Bill Johnson once. He served two stints as director. Only Johnson and Lloyd Jones are deceased. Recently, the living past and current directors gathered to honor Ferguson. They include Don Villwock, Edwardsport; Kent Yeager, Mauckport; Robert Peacock, Scottsburg; John Nidlinger, Decatur; Kenny Culp, Rensselaer; Julia Wickard, Greenfield; and Steve Brown, Lafayette. That also doesn’t count a host of interim directors who served between appointments of state directors.

How do Ferguson survive so many changes? “Everyone has their own style and way of doing things,” she explains. “You simply adapt and do your job.

“I didn’t have a farm background, but I’ve learned to respect farmers and what they do. Much of that came from working with so many different executive directors from all over the state, and with so many farmers who were on state committees and in other roles.”

Much more has changed in agriculture than names of agencies and faces of people she’s worked for throughout her career. “One advantage I had when I came was that I knew shorthand, and many people didn’t,” she says, laughing. “I hardly use it today, but it was a big deal back then.”

That was before computers, fax machines, cellphones … the list goes on. “We mailed almost everything then to 92 county offices,” Ferguson recalls. Today there are 75 local FSA offices.

“We even had a print shop,” she says. “And I filed the rules and changes for government programs which came in back then. That’s one way I learned about USDA and agriculture.”

Don’t worry about Ferguson. She plans to remain active in retirement and will continue supporting farmers. She leaves with a healthy respect for Indiana farmers, and hopes that maybe she helped you a little bit along the way.

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