Roberts: We Are Not Going To See Another Shutdown

Senate Ag Chair Pat Roberts predicts no more government shutdowns as USDA gears up to implement the new Farm Bill.  Roberts said despite another looming government shutdown deadline at the end of next week.

“We’re not going to do another shutdown; we’re just not.  They never achieve their intended purpose.  And usually, when they occur, why that first week people say, ‘stay the course,’ and the second week they say, ‘are we on the right course?’  And the third week…says, ‘how do I get off this horse?’”

And Roberts pointed, the recent five week shutdown,  “shattered glass” for a lot of folks, including farmers.

“It was tough when you shut down an FSA office, and farmers are making decisions…they’re making planting decisions right now, based on the world supply and demand situation…the situation there in Kansas—we still have wheat on the ground.”

Roberts helped shepherd to passage the 2018 Farm Bill, signed into law just days before the 35-day partial shutdown of USDA and other federal agencies.

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