Congress was unable to broker an agreement to keep the government funded, leading to a federal government shutdown. While some critical agencies and functions continue to operate, most departments have enacted shutdown procedures that vary in scope.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has furloughed 42,000 of its employees, or about 50%. USDA will continue operations relating to some farm loan and conservation programs, core nutrition safety net programs, essential food safety operations, preparing and responding to wildland fires, and animal and plant health emergency programs such as New World screwworm.
Operations most likely to cease include payment processing, disaster assistance, technical assistance, regulatory-related travel and training, trade negotiations, timber sales and long-term research studies.
Most operations under the following subagencies will be halted: Risk Management Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, Food and Nutrition Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service and Rural Development.
Roughly one-third of U.S. Forest Service staff has been furloughed.
Many state and local offices across multiple agencies have closed, including most Farm Service Agency offices and several congressional district offices.
With the closure of FSA offices, many financial assistance programs are halted or delayed. This is true for much of the technical assistance provided by regional offices, pending potential changes due to emergency weather and other events.
Roughly 86% of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff is expected to continue working.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to retain 11% of its workforce. Activities that continue include emergency and disaster assistance, Superfund response work in which a failure to maintain operations would pose a threat to human life, exempted infrastructure-related projects and activities funded by Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and Pesticide Registration Improvement Act fees.
With 92% of NASS and ERS staff furloughed, most data collection has been halted, affecting commodity and market reports.
Many operations are limited across the U.S. Department of the Interior. New timber sales are not being awarded, and grazing permits are not being administered. While there is a desire to keep national parks open, they operate with skeleton crews, and the public should expect some closures. Fire suppression, including firefighters and necessary equipment costs to protect life and property, have been deemed essential and will continue.
The Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children will likely face disruptions depending on states’ abilities to bridge the gap via emergency funds.
A prolonged lapse of funding will exacerbate processing delays for the Office of Foreign Labor Certification, which certifies H-2A visas.
The current one-year extension of the farm bill has expired. While some programs are funded through the end of the calendar year, there are several provisions that will likely lead to disruptions.
For the latest updates on the shutdown, visit www.cfbf.com/advocacyupdates.