Government shutdown timing bad for ag

Below are excerpts from this article by Ron Smith in Southwest Farm Press.

While not written for this purpose, read it to see just how entangled and entwined the feds are with crop producers: gov't loans, acreage certification, price supports, conservation programs, trade mitigation funds, supply and demand estimates, foreign market programs and more.

...The tentacles of this lack of governance, however, reach deeply into the American economy, including the farm sector, and farmers are set up to take yet another blow to budgets already hit with low prices and trade wars. Included in the services unavailable or limited to farmers because of the shutdown are the many provided by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). “At the core of the impact to agriculture is FSA,” says Dr. Harrison Pittman, director of the National Agricultural Law Center, part of the University of Arkansas division of Agriculture. He says all the things that fall under the auspices of FSA are on hold until the shutdown ends, which affects farmers’ abilities to certify acres for farm programs. “They have no way to certify acreage and to decide whether to elect ARC or PLC for crop coverage,” Pittman says. He says producers who have guaranteed loans in process may not be funded. “They may have contractors ready to go on new construction, for instance, but the payment is not there.” He says conservation programs will be affected. “Farmers have the Natural Resource Conservation Service, NRCS, which is not closed, but some of these programs have loans that go through FSA.” Implementing the recently passed Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 faces delays. “Implementation will be slowed down,” Pittman says. “And it has always been a challenge.” Crop and price reports are not available, leaving farmers at a disadvantage as they make final preparation for 2019 crop selection. Supply and demand estimates, for instance, will be dated, making choices between corn and soybeans or cotton and rice harder decisions. he deadline for dealing with farm lenders also closes in. “The situation with lenders is a little dicey for many already; this shutdown doesn’t help at all.” Trade mitigation funds, made available to assist farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs, will be on hold. He says foreign market programs are on hold, another blow to an already tenuous export outlook. Land grant universities may lose funding. Pittman says federal dollars for research and Extension could be delayed. “If a program or researcher, including grad students, at land grant institutions are waiting for a contract to be signed, the money is not there. No one is available to process it. A lot of USDA people who approve grants and procedures are not at work. Food inspection delays pose potential safety issues. “The whole system gets slowed down,” Pittman says.