U.S. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement last week that Farm Service Agency (FSA) core operations would resume despite the government shutdown. According to USDA, this means two employees will be in every county office, five days a week, to perform normal functions for programs funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).

A few of the CCC-funded programs to be reinstated include agriculture risk coverage and price loss coverage, marketing assistance loans, Livestock Forage Disaster Program, Livestock Indemnity Program, Emergency Livestock Assistance Program, Conservation Reserve Program, Non-insured Disaster Assistance Program and dairy margin coverage.

FSA also will accept applications related to programs funded by alternative sources, but payments will not be submitted at this time. These programs include direct and guaranteed farm loans, Emergency Livestock Revenue Program for wildfire and flooding, Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (Phase 1) and Emergency Conservation Program.

Producers should contact their local FSA office for more information.