President Obama recently named Indiana congresswoman Jill Long Thompson to replace outgoing Farm Credit Administration chair Leland Strom.

The Farm Credit Administration dates back to the Great Depression and the New Deal. As part of an effort to stabilize the agricultural sector in the wake of the economic and ecological collapse of the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt pushed for the the Farm Credit Act of 1933. An executive order from Roosevelt later created the Farm Credit Administration, which centralized all agricultural credit organizations under a single executive department.

Since 1953, the FSA has operated as an independent branch of the federal government, with chairs appointed directly by the president.

Jill Long Thompson has been a member of the FCA since 2010, served in the House of Representatives from 1989-1994, and unsuccessfully challenged Mitch Daniels in the 2008 Indiana gubernatorial race.

As the chair of the FSA, Long will oversee more than 90 organizations and more than $230 billion in assets.

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer