Barbara Fecso, PhD
Commodity Analysis Branch and lead on Sugar Program
Farm Production and Conservation
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Title and Responsibilities: Branch Chief, Commodity Analysis Branch, Economic and Policy Analysis Division of FPAC, Farm Production and Conservation Business Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Responsible for overseeing the administration of the domestic sugar, dairy, livestock, cotton, peanuts, grains and oilseeds programs. Provides guidance to the Secretary of Agriculture in the formulation and implementation of national policies and procedures, as well as economic and budgetary impact analysis of those programs.
Work Experience: Barbara has almost 30 years of government service in USDA with an emphasis on program analysis, operations and budgetary analysis. She started USDA in 1994 analyzing conservation technical assistance, watershed and animal waste management programs for the Natural Resources and Conservation Service. She moved to the Farm Service Agency in 1997 as a wheat and pulse crop analyst before shifting to sugar in 2002. She was named Director of FSA’s Dairy and Sweeteners Analysis branch in 2014 and played a critical role in the negotiation of the current sugar trade agreement with Mexico. In October 2018, she was named Branch Chief under USDA’s reorganization, and now oversees a staff of economists that cover 33 commodity programs. Her expertise lies in advising USDA decision makers on managing sugar supplies.
Education: Barbara received a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University at West Lafayette, Indiana in 1994.
Background: She was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and lived for almost twenty years in central Illinois. She has three children, five grandchildren and now lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband.