U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue says all Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices nationwide will soon reopen to provide additional administrative services to farmers and ranchers during the government shutdown. Certain FSA offices have been providing limited services for existing loans and tax documents since January 17, and will continue to do so through January 23. Starting on Thursday, January 24, all FSA offices will open and offer a longer list of services they’ll offer to farmers.
Additionally, Secretary Perdue announced that the deadline to apply for the Market Facilitation Program has been extended to February 14. The program is designed to help American farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs. Other program deadlines may be modified and will be announced as they are addressed.
“At President Trump’s direction, we have been working to alleviate the effects of the lapse in federal funding as best we can, and we are happy to announce the reopening of FSA offices for certain services,” Perdue said. “The FSA provides vital support for farmers and ranchers and they count on those services being available. We want to offer as much assistance as possible until the partial government shutdown is resolved.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily recalled all of the more than 9,700 FSA employees. Offices will be open from 8 am to 4:30 pm weekdays, beginning January 24. President Trump has already signed legislation that guarantees employees will receive all backpay missed during the shutdown.
For the first two full weeks under this operating plan (January 28 through February 1 and February 4 through February 8), FSA offices will be open Mondays through Fridays. After that, offices will be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, if needed, to provide the additional administrative services. That schedule will be in effect until the government shutdown ends and full funding is restored
Agricultural producers who have business with the agency can contact their FSA service center to make an appointment.
Farm service Agency offices will be able to provide a list of critical services to farmers, which are listed below. The offices are allowed to do so, because failure to perform these services would harm funded programs. FSA staff will work on the following transactions:
- Market Facilitation Program.
- Marketing Assistance Loans.
- Release of collateral warehouse receipts.
- Direct and Guaranteed Farm Operating Loans, and Emergency Loans.
- Service existing Conservation Reserve Program contracts.
- Sugar Price Support Loans.
- Dairy Margin Protection Program.
- Agricultural Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage.
- Livestock Forage Disaster.
- Emergency Assistance Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program.
- Livestock Indemnity Program.
- Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.
- Tree Assistance Program.
- Remaining Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program payments for applications already processed.
Transactions that will not be available include, but are not limited to:
- New Conservation Reserve Program contracts.
- New Direct and Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loans.
- Farm Storage Facility Loan Program.
- New or in-process Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program applications.
- Emergency Conservation Program.
- Emergency Forest Rehabilitation Program.
- Biomass Crop Assistance Program.
- Grassroots Source Water Protection Program.
With the Office of Management and Budget, USDA reviewed all of its funding accounts that are not impacted by the lapse in appropriation. After the reviewal process, USDA was able to except more employees. Those accounts that are not impacted by the lapse in appropriation include mandatory, multiyear, and no year discretionary funding including FY 2018 Farm Bill activities.