A government shutdown on Oct. 2 could have significant impacts on several key Agriculture Department programs, from farm loans benefiting small-to-midsize operations to WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), USDA officials said this week.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), which makes direct loans benefiting small and midsize farm operations, is expected to be impacted. FSA loans, used to buy land, livestock, feed, equipment, and supplies, includes a loan program essentially guaranteeing up to 95% of a principal loan amount, though farmers apply for them through conventional lenders.
“Now is the time when farmers are harvesting their crops and they’re seeking marketing loans, which allow them and assist them in ensuring that they get a decent price for their crop,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Sept. 25. “When we have a shutdown, farm service agency offices in virtually every county of this country shut down and those loans are not available.”
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is pushing for more congressional progress on a five-year farm bill, said a shutdown would be particularly harmful with farm loans, WIC, and other USDA programs grinding to a halt.
“Government is supposed to be a service to the American people,” said Grassley. Shutting it down “prevents us from offering those services, and every effort should be made to avoid that happening.”
Vilsack said the impact would be immediate for WIC, which provides nutrition assistance for nearly 7 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children. He said SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) food assistance will continue, at least into October, but “there would be serious consequences to SNAP” if the shutdown extends longer than that.
Any shutdown would also add extra pressure to the end-of-year farm bill deadline. Vilsack warned that any technical assistance the USDA normally offers to legislators about the farm bill wouldn’t be available during a shutdown because the department will have no staffing to provide that help.
Moreover, the Congressional Budget Office told lawmakers it will cease work on Oct. 10 without funding. That could cause big issues for the farm legislation, as agriculture lawmakers say they’re already waiting for critical budget estimates they need to write the measure.
The funding for most major farm bill programs doesn’t end until early 2024, but agriculture leaders in both chambers are still hoping the usually bipartisan farm bill won’t be mired in the same controversy the House’s funding bills are experiencing.
“We hold out hope” that lawmakers can pass a farm bill before the end of the year, said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “It’s been a little delayed with this Republican chaos we’re seeing. We’re taking some calendar days away from the opportunity to work on a bipartisan farm bill.”
Despite the normal bipartisan history of the farm bill, there is concern that there is not enough money to go around for both commodity-related programs that benefit farmers and climate and WIC/SNAP spending. As a result, there is speculation that the normal five-year bill may see only a one or two-year extension.