Farm Bill Expires Tonight; Government Shutdown Looms – Growing Georgia

The Farm Bill is set to expire at midnight tonight if Congress does not act – which seems unlikely in light of weighty budget issues lawmakers are wrestling with.

Since programs run through the growing season, most will chug along without much disruption into the New Year.

What might be far more disruptive is a government shutdown, a scenario that seems plausible if not probable after days of wrangling over a continuing resolution to fund the government. In a show-down with Democrats, Republican in the House of Representatives have agreed to extend the deadline for a budget resolution only if the government delays implementation of Obamacare and rescinds the device tax that’s a part of it. Democrats in the Senate say they won’t go for it, and if the two don’t reach a consensus today, federal agencies begin a new fiscal year Tuesday with no funding.

The shutdown could have serious implications for the U.S.D.A., which has been posting shutdown plans for employees and consumers over the past week and a half in preparation for Oct. 1.

The Risk Management Agency will shut down completely. Nutrition programs such as WIC will be impacted, along with the Commodity Assistance Programs (CAP) including the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) administrative funding, and the WIC Farmers’ Markets Nutrition Program (FMNP). The Animal Plant Health Inspection Service would shut down expect for employees paid with money other than government appropriations (such as trust funds or user fees) and those whose “activities (are) essential to ensure continued public health and safety, including safe use of food and drugs and safe use of hazardous materials.”

Two major programs that promote U.S. farm products overseas, the Foreign Market Development Program and the Market Access Program, would be hit. Groups that receive money from the FMDP would have lay off workers and agriculture department staff would delay doing any work on the Market Access Program’s 2014 grants until funding is certain.

via Farm Bill Expires Tonight; Government Shutdown Looms – Growing Georgia.