An estimated three-fourths of USDA employees would be furloughed in a federal shutdown, but officials said major activities will continue, such as food stamps, meat inspection and support for the NAFTA negotiations scheduled to resume on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue sent a series of 12 tweets, most of them illustrated with topical photos, that formed a comprehensive list of ongoing activities.
In his lead tweet Perdue said, “During the government shutdown, necessary functions of @USDA will continue to protect public safety and property.” Meat inspectors will stay on the job, he said. Without them, meat plants would have to shut down because federal inspection is required by law. USDA said it would “maintain the core functions of the nutrition safety net,” including food stamps and WIC. “States & partners have funding through at least February without additional appropriations,” tweeted Perdue.
“In order to protect the value of commodities, Market News will continue to operate,” said Perdue. The Market News service monitors “spot” prices for dozens of commodities at local markets and distributes hundreds of reports daily. Some of the data are used in formulas that set prices for goods, including livestock, produced under contracts between farmers and processors.
However, the National Agricultural Statistics Service said it would be shuttered during a shutdown. NASS is best known for its monthly crop report, but it produces many weekly and monthly reports that are closely followed by traders and analysts. This week, NASS is scheduled to release monthly Cold Storage and Cattle on Feed reports. “This USDA website will not be updated during a lapse in federal funding, said a notice on the NASS site. The weekly Export Sales Report, produced by other USDA agencies, also could be a casualty.
The 17-day government shutdown that ended in mid-October 2013 forced USDA to cancel the crop report for the first time in 147 years. The crop report and companion data on crops worldwide are USDA’s premiere reports. The government began monthly crop reports in 1866.
In the national forests, run by USDA, rangers would be furloughed but the Forest Service’s law officers would be on duty. USDA’s Rural Development offices would remain open in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as part of hurricane recovery, as would the USDA offices that handle the farm program. USDA’s chief economist, Robert Johansson, would be available to assist NAFTA negotiators but all of the other workers in his office would be furloughed except for the chair of the World Agricultural Outlook Board, which synthesizes ag and food information from around the globe.
For USDA’s list of shutdown plans, click here.