U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told Fox News, in an interview early Oct. 23, that 2,100 Farm Service Agency offices are reopening.
“Just a couple of days ago, we began the announcement we’re reopening all 2,100 of our Farm Service Agency offices in all of the counties around the country,” she said. “This is how we distribute these commitments to our farmers in America and these are commitments that were made earlier this year for farmers, for disaster relief, for wildfire relief, etc, that we have now that they can make their payments to continue planning for their next season, which begins pretty quickly.”
The government shut down in late September and has been closed since.
According to an Associated Press article on Oct. 22 by Josh Funk, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said each FSA office will have two paid workers during the shutdown.
“A USDA spokesperson said this move reflects President Trump’s commitment to helping farmers and ranchers, who are traditionally some of his strongest supporters. Recently, some of them have been unhappy with Trump’s latest moves, although his support remains strong across rural America,” according to the AP story.
During this same week, ranchers have been unhappy with Trump’s proposal to import Argentinian beef. Soybean farmers too complained earlier in October because of a $20 billion aid package for Argentina allowed that country to sell soybeans to China. Farmers are also still waiting on details of an aid package Trump promised to help them survive his trade war with China, but that aid has been put on hold because of the shutdown.
“President Trump will not let the radical left Democrat shutdown impact critical USDA services while harvest is underway across the country,” the USDA spokesman said in the AP story.
A White House official said the administration is using funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a USDA agency that addresses agricultural prices. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the administration’s plans were not yet publicized.
The ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, said in the AP article, the administration should have done this sooner to ensure that farmers can get the help they need.
“I am glad the administration is finally doing right by America’s farmers by partially opening FSA offices, though I question why the administration waited so long and made this decision only after putting farmers through three weeks of uncertainty,” Craig said.
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
