MONROE — Though the partial federal government shutdown has affected hundreds of thousands of employees and states providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Women, Infant and Children benefits and child lunch programs at public schools, in Green County, the ongoing operations of farmers may be most threatened.
In a time when most are already dealing with low revenues from decreased milk and crop prices, those who operate farms have even more to contend with since the government shutdown began on Dec. 22 after a quarter of federal government funding ran out.
Congress had passed a temporary spending bill that day to extend operations past the new year, but it was rejected by President Donald Trump because it did not include language granting $5 billion for a wall at the southern border with Mexico. Arguments continued over the topic as the shutdown concluded its third week Friday.
WIC, which helps “nutritionally at-risk breastfeeding and postpartum women,” babies and children, will remain unaffected in its ability to provide benefits to county residents, Green County Health Director RoAnn Warden said Wednesday. The county department receives reports from the state office which have indicated benefits will continue through February.
But the same cannot be said for the Farm Service Agency, which also operates under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A note on the homepage of the USDA website warns that the site will not be updated during the federal funding lapse. In comparison, the state Department of Health Services website landing page reads “Open for Business during the shutdown.”
Green County FSA Executive Director Teresa Zimmer has not been to work since Dec. 28, the final day the USDA funded operations. While a number of activities were set to continue as part of a plan of operations released by the USDA that day, like the SNAP program through January and Child Nutrition Programs into February, all FSA county offices closed that Friday.
Applications processing for the $12 billion in emergency aid distributed by Trump and the USDA have halted as a result of the closures. The Market Facilitation Program, which was implemented to provide aid for farmers in the face of retaliatory tariffs, gives payments to eligible producers.
The MFP grants funds to producers of sorghum and other crops, as well as hogs, dairy, shelled almonds and sweet cherries. Zimmer said in Green County, soybeans, corn, wheat and milk are the majority of products being partially reimbursed. Applications for those producers were opened Sept. 4. The deadline to apply was set for Jan. 15, but Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday that the deadline would be extended until the offices reopen.
Payments depend on crop production numbers and total pounds of milk and can range from several hundreds of dollars to thousands, Zimmer said. MFP has rates specific to each product, like $1.65 per bushel of soybeans or 14 cents per bushel of wheat. Initial payments were based on the first half of production, but on Dec. 19, the department was instructed to distribute a second payment because the impact to farmers was greater than anticipated.
Zimmer said the department was able to process the majority of second payments before the office closed and that farmers would have received that money just after Christmas, but for those who applied later in the period because of late harvests or other delays will not receive that funding until the government reopens.
Farmers are also unable to cash checks which require an endorsement by the FSA, which facilitates loans for a number of farmers. If the producer takes cattle to market, they cannot cash a check provided to them without an endorsement by the agency, effectively making that revenue useless until the shutdown comes to an end. Farmers are unable to apply that money to expenses that add up at the end of the year.
“That impacted a lot,” Zimmer said.
Even if the lapse in government funding were to be rectified immediately, the backlog of paperwork will provide a headache for workers once they return to their duties. Zimmer noted that appointments had to be cancelled and would be rescheduled at some point in the future.
Timing of the shutdown is also important; there are no writers of policy and procedures for an already delayed 2018 farm bill passed Dec. 12. Generally, a number of employees at multiple levels of the USDA write these instructions meant to be carried out in county offices, but without those employees, implementation will be delayed. And farmers depend on evaluating the farm bill to make financial decisions for the year, Zimmer said.
Though the greatest impact will likely be felt by local farmers, all industries throughout the county will note a change. Agriculture generates $2 billion in local economic activity, over 49 percent, according to research published by the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Every dollar of sales from farm products generates an additional 63 cents of activity in other parts of Green County’s economy.
“When we don’t issue our payments or are able to provide those endorsements … there’s less money to go to the grocery stores, the church collection plate,” Zimmer said. “It impacts everything.”