Bob Etheridge, State Executive Director

Bob Etheridge was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in North Carolina in October 2021.

Etheridge is a dedicated public servant with a long history of service to his country, beginning with two years in the U.S. Army. First elected in 1996, he served 14 years in Congress representing North Carolina’s 2nd District. For 12 years, Etheridge served on the House Agriculture Committee and for two years as Chairman of the General Farm Commodity and Risk Management Subcommittee. Previously, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives and served as State Superintendent of Public Instruction for eight years. Etheridge returns to USDA after being appointed by President Obama as FSA State Executive Director for North

Carolina in 2013, where he served until January 2017. Etheridge has a beef cattle operation and timber acreage. During his time away from the Agency he participated in a clean water project by installing fencing and a new water system for his cattle.

Etheridge is a member of several organizations including past president of the Rotary Club and Shriners Masonic Lodge. He also holds conferred doctorate degrees from Campbell University, Fayetteville State University, Pfeiffer University and Shaw University. In 2002, Etheridge was inducted into the Campbell University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Etheridge was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, but currently lives in Lillington with his wife Faye who is a retired public educator. They have three children and nine grandchildren. Etheridge plays basketball every Tuesday and enjoys spending quality time on his farm, feeding cows and occasionally baling hay.