FSA Offices Resume Limited Service During Government Shutdown
Brian Glenn
Director, Government Affairs
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
photo credit: AFBF
Brian Glenn
Director, Government Affairs
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
Farm Service Agency offices are reopening on a limited basis despite the government shutdown. Chad Smith has details.
Smith: USDA recently announced that Farm Service Agency offices will soon be open again despite the ongoing stalemate in funding the federal government. Brian Glenn, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, talked about the reopening process.
Glenn: Secretary Rollins announced on Fox that Thursday, October 23, all 2,100 county Farm Service Agency offices are opening. USDA will call back two employees to staff each county Farm Service Agency office five days a week.
Smith: Glenn said the offices are reopening to provide vital services to farmers and ranchers.
Glenn: The county Farm Service Agency offices will carry out programs such as disaster aid, marketing assistance loans, indemnity programs, dairy margin coverage and more farm safety net programs like ARC and PLC payments to ensure farmers and ranchers receive the payments and commitments so they can continue to plan for their next season.
Smith: He said this may be standard operating procedure for some time as the government shutdown drags on.
Glenn: Unfortunately, a resolution to this shutdown is not really in sight, and congressional Republicans and Democrats are still at a stalemate. So, the Senate has voted several times on this House-passed funding bill, and it has failed every time, but there are triggers coming up that will put additional pressure on Congress to get something done.
Smith: One of the key upcoming pressure points on Congress is supplemental nutrition program funding, which runs out of money on November 1. Chad Smith, Washington.
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