As you might have been reading, hearing, or seeing in the news, the federal government is in the midst of a limited shutdown following a lapse in appropriations legislation. In plain terms, this means Congress has failed to pass the bills that keep the lights on; and when that happens agencies can’t spend money they don’t have.
Most federal employees are placed on furlough until funding is restored. Some, deemed essential, are required to continue working without pay until a deal is reached. For some historical context, the last government shutdown occurred during the 2018 Appropriations debate, which also coincided with the Farm Bill debate (time is a flat circle). Once funding resumes, all employees typically receive backpay (although that is now being called into question), but the programs they administer lose time that can’t be made up.
This particular standoff stems from broader political battles over domestic spending, primarily subsidies that make health insurance under the Affordable Care Act more . . . affordable. But whatever the cause of a shutdown, the result is the same: a complete freeze in all federal work which impacts the entire country. We’re in a historic period of partisan brinksmanship, and it is directly affecting the nation’s programming at USDA, especially for organic producers and the agricultural research they depend on.
Organic Programming During a Shutdown
For organic producers, this shutdown hits several critical programs at once, including:
- The Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP), which helps farmers recoup part of the cost of certification, and operates through the Farm Service Agency (FSA). With nearly all county FSA offices closed, farmers may find it hard to submit and process their cost-share applications.
- The National Organic Program, the regulatory and enforcement agency operated by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), has furloughed nearly all of its roughly 40 staff members. That means no compliance, no enforcement, no rulemaking, and no certification review or accreditation activities until the government reopens.
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff, who provide critical in-the-field conservation support have also been sidelined. This affects all farmers, but hits organic operations as well. Farmers use NRCS conservation programs to address resource concerns on their operations, like erosion control and biodiversity conservation.
The delays stemming from the shutdown will ripple across the entire agricultural sector, but especially the organic sector. From the small diversified producer waiting for their NRCS or OCCSP cost-share funding, to the certifier waiting for regulatory guidance.
Impacts on Research Programming
The shutdown does not only impact the programming that directly serves producers, but also the underlying research infrastructure that provides the foundation for all regulatory frameworks for agricultural systems.
At the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the agency that administers competitive grant programs, only 13 of roughly 400 employees remain on duty. That means functionally no work is able to be continued on releasing Requests for Applications (RFAs), and no new awards can move forward. Many competitive grant programs, like the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), are already running nearly a full year behind their normal grant cycle.
Meanwhile, the Agricultural Research Service faces similar disruptions. This can be particularly harmful at this agency given that it manages long-term research trials vital to understanding soil health, pest management, livestock research, and climate adaptation. When these programs pause, data collection and continuity is lost, impacting the ability for these projects to deliver results to farmers.
Even data collection efforts like the Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are affected. The organic sector depends on ERS and NASS for production and market data, which informs everything from policy development to private investment. Losing access to this data hampers strategic planning for an entire sector. It is also worth noting some of dissonance here: this shutdown comes just months after a 100% increase in funding for the Organic Market and Production Data Initiative was included in the budget reconciliation package, a recognition by both Congress and the Executive branch how vital this work is.
What Happens Next?
No one can predict how long this shutdown will last. We do know that the deadlock in Congress is real, and it’s being played out at the expense of federal workers, farmers, researchers, and the general public alike. The USDA exists to carry out the policies Congress enacts and provides funding for. The current shutdown doesn’t just interrupt that process, it undermines it. The longer it continues, the more it erodes public trust in the government’s ability to deliver for rural America.
There isn’t a clear path forward for action yet, but OFRF will continue tracking these developments closely, and sharing what they mean for organic producers and researchers across the United States. In the meantime, we are looking forward to sharing good news regarding legislative work next month!
Until then, eat well and breathe deeply,
Gordon
