MIDAS Project

MIDAS Project

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

All this month Farm Service Agency employees nationwide have been training to operate MIDAS, a new computer system that has been years in the making. Washington State Executive Director for the FSA Judy Olson explains.

OLSON: MIDAS is the effort to “Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of Agriculture Systems”. This has actually been an effort over ten years. The software and the computer system that we use to maintain all of the USDA FSA producer information is 1980’s software and hardware, and is obsolete, quite frankly.

Olson talks about what switching to the new computer system means for FSA employees.

OLSON: For FSA office employees the first thing that it means is they have considerable training and that when the go-live happens that there will be new screens on their computer for producer database and entry of producer information. This is going to be a multi-step task but the first major piece that is going to be activated is basically the producer information.

How much information from the existing system is being entered into MIDAS and will any re-certifications be necessary?

OLSON: We have had our systems locked down while they are making this conversion and transition. From a producer’s point of view most everything that we have is in paper form as well, and there will also be lists created electronically of any items that were problematic in the transition.

Tomorrow Olson will discuss what benefits the MIDAS upgrade will have for FSA employees and farmers as well.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.