photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

The Douglas County USDA Service Center, located at 4920 Bob Billings Pkwy, is pictured on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

The Trump administration’s pick to lead the USDA Farm Service Agency in Kansas is someone who served in the role before during President Donald Trump’s first term.

In a news release on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that David Schemm was appointed as the state executive director earlier this month. The release said he joined the Kansas FSA on May 5.

As executive director, Schemm will oversee the delivery of FSA programs, including commodity, conservation, credit and disaster assistance programs, to agricultural producers across the state.

Schemm previously served in the same position during Trump’s first term, the release said. Before that, it said, he served as an agriculture adviser for Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall for two years. He also has experience with the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers Board, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and the Innovation and Sustainability A-Team for the United States Grains Council, the release said.

FSA Administrator Bill Bream said in the release that Schemm and other recent FSA appointees will bring a “wealth of knowledge and expertise” and will be crucial for supporting rural communities.

Schemm’s appointment comes at a time when the Trump administration has cut funding to some USDA and FSA programs in the state. In March, the federal government canceled a lease at the U.S. Department of Agriculture service office, at 4920 Bob Billings Parkway, in Lawrence and laid off all the Natural Resources Conservation Service employees in a six-county region, as the Journal-World reported.