FSA Reopening
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. USDA recently announced that Farm Service Agency offices will reopen despite the ongoing stalemate in funding the federal government.
Brian Glenn, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that all 2,100 county FSA offices are reopening with two employees, five days a week …
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.”
Glenn says 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.”
One upcoming pressure point for Congress is supplemental nutrition program funding, which runs out of money November 1.
