Acting Administrator for the Risk Management Agency
Brandon Willis was named Acting Administrator of the Risk Management Agency (RMA) effective January 1, 2013. Willis most recently served as Senior Advisor to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Title I commodity programs, farm legislation matters and disaster assistance. In August 2009, Willis was appointed to serve as Deputy Administrator of Farm Programs for USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA). In that position, he oversaw all FSA programs under the Production Emergencies and Compliance Division (PECD), Conservation and Environmental Programs Division (CEPD), and Price Support Division (PSD).
Before joining FSA, Willis served as the Agriculture Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Max Baucus (2006-2009). During this time, he drafted floor statements on agricultural issues and worked closely on legislation, including the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, with a particular focus on the livestock disaster programs. Willis also drafted legislation that supported the use of existing conservation programs to help fight the declining population of pollinators.
In 2005, he worked as a graduate assistant at the National Agricultural Law Center, and before that spent time as an intern at USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).
Willis earned his bachelor's degree in crop and soil science from Utah State University in Logan, Utah, and his law degree from the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo. In 2009, he completed his master's degree in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas. He grew up on a third generation sheep ranch in northern Utah and managed his family's raspberry farm, Bursting Berries. He now resides in Washington, D.C.
