Other Ag News: Voices from the Field: The Real Costs of the Government Shutdown

While the longest federal government shutdown in US history has finally ended, its impacts on farmers, families, and communities nationwide are complex and ongoing. No two government shutdowns are identical since each Administration makes their own determination about what essential services and staff will continue to operate during the shutdown. Some federal services remain in operation, while many others go dark, though there is a consistent throughline – the longer a shutdown lasts, the more severe the disruptions become. 

In a previous post, published near the start of the shutdown, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) outlined how the pause in government operations and furlough of employees at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) would impact agricultural programming and many important functions of the government, such as farm loan application approvals, conservation program reimbursement processing, appeals of terminated grant funding, and ensuring that vulnerable families receive nutrition benefits. 

In this post, we highlight specific examples of how farmers and other food and agriculture stakeholders across the nation were impacted by the 43 day lapse in government services. The post concludes by examining how other changes at USDA – from staffing cuts to a proposed reorganization – can interrupt services in much the same way as a government shutdown, underscoring the need to center farmers, their families, and the most vulnerable in our communities in all of the Department’s decisions.

A core part of USDA’s mission is to preserve natural resources through conservation. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) works with farmers across the nation to implement conservation practices that make farms more self-sufficient and resilient. During the shutdown roughly 95% of NRCS staff – which had already been drastically reduced – were furloughed, resulting in significant disruptions. Most conservation programs involve financial incentives, but are typically structured to require the farmer to pay out-of-pocket and receive reimbursement later. This, combined with razor thin production margins, means any delays in payment processing not only add to the stress farmers are already experiencing, but threaten farm viability. For example:  

• Molly, a rancher at MoSo Farms in Ohio, shared that they were owed $4,000 for a conservation contract with NRCS. During the shutdown, USDA personnel could not come to her farm to confirm that the work was carried out as agreed upon in the contract. “We could really use this cash right now during our most lean time of the year when we’re paying for over $30,000 in processing fees to have our more than 50 hogs and 10 cattle butchered,” she explained. 
• Lindsay, who farms at Trouvaille Farm in Ohio, was unable to communicate and coordinate with NRCS during the shutdown. They were expecting another $5,000 from NRCS for a Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) contract but could not get any information from their NRCS officer, who was presumably furloughed. To make ends meet, she found herself having to put expenses on a personal credit card.

Another vital function USDA provides is resources to support farmers as they navigate external factors like droughts, natural disasters, and market volatility. Most of these services are administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which furloughed 67% of its staff during the shutdown. Farmers reported being unable to access payments allocated for disaster assistance and being unable to complete loan applications, leaving them in the dark about the status of their application and adding to their financial stress and uncertainty. For example: 

• Antonio submitted an FSA loan application before the shutdown, and then received a response asking him to address a few things on his application with a new deadline of October 15th. After resubmitting the revised application, he received no response from FSA staff. At the time of this writing, he has not heard back and presumes the application is still in queue as incomplete. 
• Jane, of Wheelers Orchard, a fruit farm in Tennessee, reported having been awarded an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contract in addition to the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), which provides financial assistance to farmers growing crops that are ineligible for traditional crop insurance. “We had crop failure in our orchard and are waiting for our NAP insurance payment, which is now in hold.”
• Celeste, of Free Range Flowers in Washington shared that they rely on an annual $50,000 FSA operating loan to get them through the slow, cold season. She pointed to what this means not just for their operations, but their workforce as well. “We are not able to predict how we will staff in 2026, which leaves our coworkers adrift.” Her story highlights the thin margins on which small and mid sized farms operate and how critical it is to have a responsive and well-staffed USDA to timely process loan applications. Her story also illustrates how connected USDA services are to a strong and robust agricultural workforce, which is essential for farm viability and longevity.

The shutdown delivered significant impacts that delayed and reduced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for children, the elderly, and our most vulnerable community members. A lesser known result of a SNAP benefits lapse is the impact to farmers and small food retailers. There are several USDA programs that are designed to leverage nutrition benefits to increase both access to healthy, high quality local food and improve local farmers’ bottom line. When nutrition benefits are cut, farmers experience that impact. For example:

• Caroline, of Chez Nous Farm, a fruit and flower farm in Ohio, said the government shutdown was impacting her on a more personal level. She is a SNAP benefit recipient while those funds were also suspended. Her farm demonstrates how to produce the best food while also caring for the entire ecosystem and all its components. As a responsible and ethical land steward she has an active CSP contract, but the NRCS conservationist she works with had been furloughed. Her annual payment was suspended until federal employees return to work. It’s not uncommon that farmers and farm owners, with thin profit margins and revenue varying significantly month to month, also rely on federal benefits like SNAP. 
• Bradley runs a small certified organic vegetable farm called Full Hollow Farm in Michigan. They proudly use earth-friendly, sustainable growing practices to encourage biodiversity and soil health. They typically see about $500-$800 worth of produce purchased with SNAP at farmers markets each month, and anticipate taking a serious financial hit in November due to the government shutdown and SNAP benefits being delayed. 
• Carine, of Sun Tracker Farm, a diversified vegetable and egg farm in California, was concerned about the impact the lapse in nutrition benefits would have on both her and the community at large. As she wrote in the Napa Valley Register, it “will mean a hit in our sales, and for many of our fellow farmers,” and that “people will go hungry without programs such as CalFresh,” California’s state SNAP program.
• The lack of reliable access to USDA services does not only impact farmers. The Broad Street Food Pantry’ in Ohio anticipates increased demand from folks in need of food, but few opportunities for them to increase the amount of food available. Food banks are intended to be short term support for families who need assistance to get back on their feet. As community needs grow in size and urgency, food banks may not be able to meet the demand, which we could prevent through intentional investments in USDA resources and capacity.

Now that the federal government and USDA have reopened and resumed normal activity, essential services for farmers and food and agriculture stakeholders are once again widely available. However, other ongoing changes at USDA still threaten to impact services for farmers.

USDA will continue to carry out the massive reorganization plan proposed this summer, which they claim will, “consolidate, unify, and optimize functions within [the Department].” As NSAC has noted, the reorganization proposal was developed without input from farmers and other stakeholders, raising significant and legitimate concerns about how it will impact USDA program and service delivery. Without meaningful stakeholder input and significant revision, we are deeply concerned that the damage done during the shutdown will be compounded if the reorganization moves forward as proposed. USDA must take the time to ensure that programs and service delivery for farmers and stakeholders will not be further disrupted by gathering public input through a fully transparent process and fully assessing potential impacts before moving forward with any proposal. We can and must do better by our farmers.

Unfortunately, the proposed reorganization isn’t the only ongoing threat to essential services for farmers – since January 2025, USDA has significantly reduced its  staff across the Department – roughly 20,000 employees have left USDA. Every agency at USDA has experienced staff resignations and separations. Some have been hit particularly hard, like the Rural Development mission area losing 36% of its staff, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) losing at least 22% of its staff.

The funding bill that was enacted in November to reopen the government provided USDA with funding to last through the end of the fiscal year 2026 on (September 30, 2026), but did not take action to mitigate or rectify the problems farmers faced during the shutdown or as the result of ongoing changes at USDA. These effects will continue to ripple throughout the agricultural sector and in communities across the US, and could continue to worsen without intervention. The stories highlighted here offer a glimpse into the acute impacts farmers, families, and communities experience when government programs and services are disrupted – impacts that stand to be exacerbated if USDA’s staff loss and reorganization plan proceeds unchecked.

The post Voices from the Field: The Real Costs of the Government Shutdown appeared first on National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.