Julia Wickard, State Executive Director

Julia A. Wickard was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Indiana in April 2022.

Wickard served as the Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Program Support and the Agricultural Liaison at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for the State of Indiana. Wickard previously served as the State Executive Director for FSA in Indiana from 2009-2017.

Before her federal service, Wickard served as the Executive Vice President of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association. She also worked for Indiana Farm Bureau, the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and served as Deputy Director in the Office of the Commissioner of Agriculture for seven years. She has worked for two members of Congress in Washington D.C., and she serves on several agricultural and community boards.

Wickard graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and political science. She received the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association Certificate of Distinction and was selected as a College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumni. She is a graduate of the two-year Indiana Agricultural Leadership Program through AgrIInstitute and serves as Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

Wickard received the Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 2004, and the Beck’s Hybrids “Beyond the Fence” Award in 2015. She received numerous national awards during her USDA tenure and was appointed to the Indiana State Fair Board of Directors by Governor Mike Pence in 2015.

Wickard, her husband, Chris, and their two children reside in Hancock County on their 100-year homesteaded family farm where they raise registered Angus cattle, Boer goats and assist in operating a corn, soybean, and hay operation with her family.