Government Shutdown Looms as Ag Aid Hangs in the Balance

Funding Bill Collapse and Its Impact on Ag Aid

As the Office of Management and Budget informed federal agencies to start communicating with employees about shutdown procedures starting at 10 am tomorrow, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. Last Friday, the agencies were already told to have their shutdown preparations in order. This funding bill collapse has put agricultural aid at significant risk. The Hill's Mychael Schnell reported that Speaker Mike Johnson is looking at a plan B to fund the government ahead of the Friday shutdown deadline. The back-up option he is examining is a 'clean' continuing resolution, which would entail dropping the additional provisions in the initial 1,500-page spending package. This includes disaster aid and economic assistance for farmers.

President-elect Donald Trump, however, left the door open to including farm aid and disaster assistance in a new bill. In a statement Wednesday, he said, "Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country…" The agriculture aid included in the original bill would have provided $20.78 billion to help producers with disaster losses over the past two years. Another section of the bill spells out a formula to provide $10 billion in economic assistance through a laid-out formula, creating one-time payments to producers. Economists and accountants on Wednesday had varying numbers for the level of payments. DTN reached out to congressional staff for clarifications on those numbers. The breakdown for some major crops looks like this: Corn, $43.80 per acre; Soybeans, $30.61 per acre; Wheat, $31.80 per acre; Seed cotton, $84.70 per acre; Sorghum, $41.85 per acre; Rice, $71.37 per acre. These payments would be subject to $125,000 payment limits that could go up to $250,000 for producers who receive 75% or more of their gross income from farming. The bill also provides an extension of the current farm bill through Sept. 30, 2025, preventing permanent law from taking effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Some Lawmakers and Ag Groups' Stance on Dropping Aid

While there was a clamor on social media, farm groups have been urging their members to back the bill. The National Corn Growers Association and American Soybean Association cited their support. The American Farm Bureau Federation stated that its members had sent nearly 13,000 messages to lawmakers, calling on them to pass a CR with economic aid to farmers. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn 'GT' Thompson, R-Pa., told Agri-Pulse Wednesday evening that he would oppose a new CR that lacks economic assistance for farmers. The 1,547-page bill negotiated by congressional leaders would provide $10 billion in payments to row crop farmers who have seen market prices fall below their cost of production this year. "I can’t support … the CR if it doesn’t have the economic support that we negotiated," Thompson said. He also said that any new CR would need to include a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill. "That would be completely unacceptable" to omit a farm bill extension, Thompson said. "The ramifications of that would be significant on the agriculture industry."