Ag Community Happy After Federal Government Reopen

Federal agencies that serve farmers and many others are back in business this week, but the challenges in getting services back up to speed after the longest shutdown ever will be daunting.  USDA, USTR, EPA, the IRS and other agencies will take weeks or months to recover from the 35-day partial government shutdown as they deal with mountains of backlogged work and housekeeping tasks.  USDA must still implement a farm bill, EPA a rule for year-round E15 use, USTR has more trade talks with China, new ones with Japan and the UK, and the IRS has mountains of tax returns and other requests to process.  American Farm Bureau Federation Executive Vice President Dale Moore said there will be a host challenges ahead especially with the Farm Bill.

“There are a lot of changes, and the ability of farmers to come in and sign up for the coming crop year, particularly given where the markets have been, this is certainly going to be a challenge…and certainly one we’re hoping gets resolved very soon.”

Moore added there was already a tight window to implement the new Farm bill and having just three weeks of certain funding for affected agencies, adds even more pressure.

USTR was also shut down, except for top trade officials, and while China talks continued, those with Japan and UK didn’t start.  AFB’s Dave Salmonsen said a key report on USMCA was delayed as well.

“By mid-March, originally, now that might be delayed with the shutdown, the International Trade Commission is due to deliver a report to Congress about the economic impacts, overall, from the USMCA, then Congress will be awaiting the administration to submit, basically, the implementing legislation.”

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