Washington 14th District Congressman Dan Newhouse has joined fourteen other Republican House members in signing a letter to Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Fordyce asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address understaffing at the Farm Service Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.  In the letter, the legislators say without proper staffing, it has become increasingly difficult for offices to implement programs, including the recently established Farmer Bridge Assistance program.  The representatives say they have heard from constituents about major delays in application processing, payments, and contract certification over the last several months.  While a majority of these concerns have centered around conservation programs and the FBA program, they worry it will be an ongoing issue for all programs under the Farm Production and Conservation mission area that Fordyce oversees.  They add USDA deployment of staff to affected county offices a few days a week has been helpful, but it is only a temporary solution to an ongoing problem.