The political impasse in Washington, D.C., that led to a federal government shutdown at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1 may hurt some local people, including those who depend upon certain farm programs.
On Thursday, the closure rolled into its 15th day, with no apparent end in sight. Democrats in Congress have refused to support a Republican-backed proposal for a short-term funding package.
Democrats demand the reversal of Medicaid cuts and the extension of COVID-era health care tax credits due to expire soon. Republicans refuse to negotiate on these matters.
While payments for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid continue to be sent, that may not be the case for some U.S. Department of Agriculture funds.
David Groner, executive director of USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Tallahatchie County, said the employees of that office, and others at the USDA’s Tallahatchie County Service Center in Charleston, are among some 750,000 federal employees nationwide who have been deemed nonessential and have been barred from going to work due to the lapse in federal funding..
Groner said annual payments for USDA programs like the popular Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which provides a yearly rental payment to farmers who remove highly erodible and environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production, will soon dry up.
“No USDA annual payments for these programs can be disbursed while employees are on furlough,” he noted.
Groner said local residents, including landowners who rent farmland to agricultural operators, need to be aware that those government payments are in real jeopardy due to the political standoff and should be prepared to ride it out.
