Shut Down Fallout

Now that the government shutdown is over America is taking stock to see what is needed to get things back on track. The shutdown proved to have consequences many may not have been anticipated. The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates monthly report put out by the Department of Agriculture on the gamut of agricultural commodities except for fruits and vegetables was one that got missed. Bob Young is chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

YOUNG: It's already been announced that they're not going to put them out on the original date that they were supposed to come out on. I think the real question now is whether or not they're going to put them out at some later date or whatever and I don't think anybody knows the answer to that question. There's nobody to talk to ask that question at this point.

Then there's the issue with the recent outbreak of salmonella. Yes, meat inspectors are still on the job, but the employees at the Center for Disease Control who gather and analyze data on such outbreaks and help to bring them under control were not.

YOUNG: Had we been under normal circumstances CDC folks would have been in place right away and able to determine, "Hey we've had 50 cases for example, we've got to put somebody on this, you would've had people in place. You could've picked up the phone, sent them off and had them go to work. As it was, because you had this delay you're up to 200-plus cases.

It will be interesting to see what other fallout comes as the next week sees the government get back into the full swing of things.

That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.