News
Shutdown could disrupt farm bill rollout
There’s concern the government shutdown will disrupt implementation of the new farm bill.
American Farm Bureau chief economist John Newton says USDA does have time to roll out program changes.
“So once they get back to work, FSA staff and officials across the country will have to figure out and establish some timelines for when farmers will have to make some of those key program elections in that new farm bill.”
He tells Brownfield the only significant deadline as of now is the 60 days Congress has to open signup for the new Dairy Title.
“But with some of these programs, I think the key to remember is that this is an evolutionary change to the farm bill. When you get into the nuts and bolts of some of the key safety net programs that were in there, there weren’t major changes made.”
Newton is not sure how long the shutdown might last, but he says Farm Bureau is ready to help farmers and ranchers with the new farm bill programs once the government gets back to work.
Great new’s. At this point delaying a bad bill and the business as usual in Washington and the special interests is the best I can hope for.