From the Arkansas Advocate:
Existing challenges for Arkansas’ farmers could be exacerbated by a prolonged federal government shutdown, Congressman Steve Womack told industry leaders Thursday, though he said he’s hopeful there will be movement toward reopening the government next week.
The shutdown, which has affected air traffic controller staffing, resulted in Womack’s flight from Washington D.C. being delayed last night as the Republican congressman traveled to Northwest Arkansas to host a roundtable discussion with members of the local agriculture industry Thursday morning.
The roundtable was not open to reporters, but Womack, who represents Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District, told members of the media afterward that a labor supply shortage and the high costs of feed, seed, fertilizer, land and equipment are driving farmers out of business.
Bill Haak, husband of former Republican state Rep. Delia Haak, raises dairy and beef cattle in Benton County. The eighth-generation dairy farmer said one of the challenges he’s facing is “pretty rough” milk prices that have thankfully been offset by beef prices.
“The milk is lower due to the federal milk market order,” he said, referring to a federal system that maintains a stable marketing relationship between processors and producers. “It’s just like everything else, supply and demand, and right now there’s just a saturation of milk in the country and the federal milk market order reflects that.”
Farmers often rely on subsidies from the federal government and the ongoing shutdown could impact their ability to access programs, like those that offset the loss of livestock, according to the Benton County Cooperative Extension Service’s Johnny Gunsaulis.
“Like I said in the meeting, the livestock people in this part of the world really take pride that we’re one of the areas of the state that receive a lower amount of government payments, and most people are pretty proud of that, but when they do need those for help, this government shutdown will affect those producers,” Gunsaulis said.
The shutdown is also affecting research at the University of Arkansas’ Division of Agriculture where a number of county extension agents and research are partially federally funded, the division’s vice president Deacue Fields said. No employees have been furloughed, according to Fields, who said the division is using carryover funds to keep staff paid.
But it’s a short-term solution that’s preventing the division from being proactive with research because it isn’t able to invest resources like it typically would, he said. Avian influenza, for example, is one research area the division is “heavily involved in” and this is the season where there’s generally an uptick in the disease, Fields said. Avian influenza was identified in a backyard flock in Mississippi County, according to an Oct. 10 update from the division. Roughly 60 birds were destroyed as a result.
“The overall investment in agriculture research really matters for us to be able to continue to stay ahead of the curve and be able to feed a growing population with the same amount of land, same amount of production assets that we had before,” Fields said. “It takes research and innovation.”
Womack said the early stages of a federal government shutdown often don’t affect people too much, but the overall economy will be affected as the closure continues.
For example, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are expected to lapse Saturday, which Womack said would affect more than 200,000 people in Arkansas, a state with the highest food insecurity rate in the nation, according to a September 2024 USDA report.
“To the people who would suggest that the government shutdown doesn’t necessarily affect them, let me assure them it completely affects them. It just may not show up because they’re still getting a paycheck and they’re still going about their daily routines,” Womack said.
Democrats and Republicans in Washington have been deadlocked for weeks, making no visible progress in negotiations to reopen the government. The shutdown began Oct. 1 after Congress failed to approve a funding bill before the start of the new fiscal year.
A sticking point for Democrats has been tax credits used by people who buy their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace; the credits are set to expire at the end of this year. Republicans have said negotiations about the credits can begin once the government is funded.
Womack said Thursday he’s “hearing whispers” about conversations behind the scenes that could lead to action soon. With the pain inflicted by the loss of SNAP benefits, Womack said he’s hopeful there will be a plan drafted next week that would allow lawmakers to approve three pending appropriations bills, one of which is related to agriculture. SNAP benefits are administered by the Department of Agriculture.
“Then, once you get government reopened, the two sides, bicameral, bipartisan, can sit down at the table and then start discussing other emerging issues, and certainly health care is going to be one of those, what to do with enhanced tax credits that expire at the end of this year for the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “Those are the kinds of discussions that we need to be having right now, but you can’t have them if you’ve got two sides that are sitting in their corners right now unwilling to work with each other.”
In addition to agriculture, Womack said the shutdown is delaying the approval of a transportation and housing appropriation bill that includes around $100 million for projects in his district, including highway construction and water system improvements.
