10-17 IAT Fed Shutdown
The government shutdown is proving to have consequences many may not have anticipated.
The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates is a monthly report put out by the department of Agriculture on the gamut of agricultural commodities except for fruits and vegetables. Bob Young is chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “It has already been announced that they are not going to put them out on the original date that they were supposed to come out on and the question is are they going to put them out on some later date. I don’t think anybody knows the answer to that question. There is nobody to talk to to ask that question at this point.” You might say, so what. Young says that the report is important to keep things fair for the little guys. “One of the key things for a competitive market is that everybody knows the same things that everybody else knows. That is what USDA’s reports provide. Everybody knows what USDA says but when USDA’s reports are not available, then folks that have private information have that much more market power and that much more market knowledge.” So while the tea party and Obama go back and forth, bickering and refusing to resolve all of this, small producers are at a disadvantage. You know what would be great? If the fat cats in Washington were put on a diet. Best way to show them lean times, remember all of this the next time you vote.
