NORTHWEST
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
A7
Government shutdown strains farm country
By CAROL RYAN
DUMAS
EO Media Group
A wall is standing between
farmers and ranchers and the
government assistance and
insurance they need to keep
their operations intact.
The standoff between
President Donald Trump
and congressional Demo-
crats over funding for a wall
on the Mexican border has
stalled funding for USDA
and shut down “non-essen-
tial” activities.
But many of those ser-
vices are critical to produc-
ers, including fi nancial and
technical assistance and
access to market data.
“Many of the activi-
ties deemed ‘non-essential’
by USDA are absolutely
essential to family farmers
this time of year,” Andrew
Jerome,
communications
director for National Farm-
ers Union, said.
Producers have bills to
pay, and they need the cash
fl ow provided by loans and
Market Facilitation Pro-
gram payments that come
through Farm Services
Agency offi ces, he said.
“They need USDA data
to make informed decisions
when planning for the com-
ing year,” he said.
On top of that, they need
government experts back
at their desks working on
implementation of the new
farm bill and on expanding
EO Media Group File/Capital Press
Farm groups say the partial government shutdown has stopped or delayed important services the USDA provides.
‘MANY OF THE ACTIVITIES DEEMED ‘NON-ESSENTIAL’ BY USDA ARE
ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO FAMILY FARMERS THIS TIME OF YEAR.’
Andrew Jerome, communications director for National Farmers Union
sales of higher level blends
of ethanol, he said.
“The longer this shut-
down goes on, the worse
off conditions get for family
farmers and ranchers who
need a strong 2019,” he said.
The shutdown is impact-
ing producers in a lot of dif-
ferent ways, John New-
ton, American Farm Bureau
Federation chief economist,
said.
All FSA loans have
stopped, and that also
impacts loans from major
lending institutions that lean
on those loans in approv-
ing commercial loans. Other
FSA payments have also
stopped, and getting money
in a timely fashion is import-
ant for growers, he said.
Several reports, including
the World Agricultural Sup-
ply and Demand Estimates,
winter wheat seeding and a
weekly export report, were
due out, and those are pretty
critical in making planting
decisions, he said on Friday.
USDA is unable to imple-
ment the new farm bill,
make program payments or
prepare for program enroll-
ment, he said.
The fi rst payments for
the new Dairy Margin Cov-
erage program were sup-
posed to go out in Febru-
ary or March. Signup for
the Agricultural Risk Cov-
erage and Price Loss Cover-
age programs for major fi eld
crops needs to happen in the
spring, he said.
Signup for those programs
will be retroactive once the
government reopens, but pro-
ducers still won’t get payments
for several months, he said.
These are some of the
issues that have come to the
surface, but there could be a
lot of other issues producers
are dealing with, he said.
Fortunately for livestock
producers, mandatory price
reporting and meat inspec-
tions are continuing, Colin
Woodall, senior vice presi-
dent of National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association, said.
But a lot of producers are
waiting on FSA payments
to make investments or pur-
chases. In some cases, pro-
ducers have FSA checks in
hand but they have to be
signed by a local FSA offi -
cial — and those offi ces
are closed, he said.
There is also the risk
that cattle inventories and
market analysis and trend
reports won’t be done and the
industry might not be able to
get that data back, he said.
“It’s anybody’s guess
how much longer this could
last. I think as it continues,
there’ll be more things pop
up,” he said.
Oregon state government weathering the shutdown storm
By Aubrey Wieber
Oregon Capital Bureau
Oregon state government
has yet to see deep impacts
from a three-week federal
government shutdown, but
some Oregonians are feeling
the pinch.
Saturday the shutdown
became the longest in U.S.
history at 22 days. With
President Donald Trump and
congressional
Democrats
unwilling to budge over
funding for a wall on the
southern border, there does
not appear to be an easy exit
in sight.
In late December, about
a week into the shutdown,
Elizabeth Craig, spokes-
woman for the Oregon
Department of Adminis-
trative Services, said state
agencies that receive fund-
ing from their shuttered
federal counterparts could
weather the storm for about
another week without mak-
ing any adjustments.
But some federal pay-
ments have continued during
the shutdown, and the state
has reserves to keep others
afl oat. This week, Craig sent
the Oregon Capital Bureau
an update on agencies and
programs that rely on fed-
eral dollars.
Craig has previously
said the state would seek to
recoup any extra money it
has to shell out during the
shutdown.
The partial government
shutdown has frozen opera-
EO Media Group fi le photo/Blue Mountain Eagle
The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. The partial shutdown of
the federal government could cause a cash fl ow hiccup for the
state of Oregon.
tions for the federal depart-
ments of Agriculture, Com-
merce, Justice, Homeland
Security, Housing and
Urban Development, Inte-
rior, State, Transportation
and Treasury.
Some state programs
should be fi ne through the
federal fi scal year, which
ends Sept. 30, as long as the
closed agencies keep mak-
ing payments. Others could
be impacted earlier, possibly
at the end of the month.
One area of concern is the
Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families program,
also called welfare. That
program provides cash pay-
ments for low-income fami-
lies with children to pay for
things like high rent costs.
The Department of Human
Services has money to keep
the program afl oat through
the month, but could run
into issues if the shutdown
extends into February.
Another impact is on the
Department of Public Safety
Standards and Training,
which trains fi rst respond-
ers such as police and fi re-
fi ghters. Grant reviews have
paused, and classes at the
National Fire Academy are
cancelled.
Despite the U.S. Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban
Development being closed,
payments are still being
made for low-income hous-
ing vouchers. However,
Craig noted funding could
dry up if the shutdown
continues.
So far, the state’s natural
resource departments have
been relatively unimpacted,
but if the shutdown extends
to February, that will likely
change. The feds owe $18
million in reimbursements
to the Department of For-
estry, forcing the state to
use lines of credit charging
interest to fund operations.
The Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality can go
unchanged until March, at
which point it would have
to dip into reserve funds to
sustain itself until the end of
June, when there would be a
shortage.
Oregon’s alcohol indus-
try could potentially be
impacted, as the federal
government cannot approve
any new beer, wine or spirit
labels. That means those
new products can’t enter the
market during the shutdown,
but Craig reported that has
so far only impacted one
wine label.
Just because state gov-
ernment is staying afl oat
doesn’t
mean
Orego-
nians aren’t hurting. Friday
marked the fi rst missed pay-
check for furloughed federal
workers, with news reports
claiming some were forced
to fi nd creative ways to pay
bills, such as extending lines
of credit or dipping into col-
lege savings accounts.
Private industry can also
depend on the federal gov-
ernment, especially the agri-
cultural industry.
Jerome Rosa, executive
director of the Oregon Cat-
tlemen’s Association, said
he had a meeting set up
with U.S. Fish and Wild-
life to talk about wolf dep-
redation on Oregon cattle,
but it got canceled due to the
shutdown.
“The situation that is
occurring is a really, really
tough situation,” he said.
“A lot of cattle are getting
maimed and killed.”
Rosa also said this time
of year is when federal
loans and programs that
fund things like seeding and
equipment purchases are
renewed, but that money has
temporarily dried up.
“I’ve had several com-
ments and calls about
that,” he said. “It’s pretty
frustrating.”
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