'it’s Just Disappointment’: Shutdown Adds To Farmers’ Anxieties

The government shutdown is creating financial heartburn for farmers across the country, stalling the delivery of farm loans, the release of critical market reports and the Trump administration’s plans for cash bailouts.

Producers of row crops like corn, wheat and soybeans have for months been weathering tariff uncertainty and high input costs for things like fertilizer and machinery, while hoping that President Donald Trump will open new markets for their products or send them financial assistance, as he did during his first-term trade war with China.

The absence of those things — in combination with the shutdown — has heightened concern at a time when farmers need to start making decisions about how to pay for next year’s planting season.

“Every day that the government isn't open, there's slightly more anxiety in farm country, especially as growers are harvesting and having to pay bills and having to pay off their bank,” Russell Williams, a Texas-based corn and wheat farmer, said in an interview. “There's serious risks of farm bankruptcies this year.”

Andy Jobman, a Nebraska corn and soybean farmer, said the pause in USDA’s monthly agricultural data on harvests and supply is hindering his ability to make business decisions or anticipate market fluctuations. And Iowa Corn Growers Association President Stu Swanson said farmers in his state are seeing delays in payments they had been counting on for this growing season because of the closure of USDA Farm Service Agency offices. FSA administers disaster and conservation programs and provides farm loans, which totaled more than $5 billion in fiscal year 2024.

Swanson said he is unable to access his USDA payment for land he put in a conservation program or his loan on grain until the government reopens, which means he needs to borrow money at higher rates from banks in the interim.

“My payment is made in October, and so far, I have not received that payment because of the shutdown,” Swanson said. “So directly impacting my operation in terms of I have that in my budget and in my financial plans for cash flow, and I was going to use that money for purchasing inputs, both to finish this year's crop and for next year.”

Any hope for quick farmer bailouts to alleviate their economic stress has also been waylaid. Trump administration officials, from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have prepared money from an internal USDA fund to send to producers and suggested tapping tariff revenue. But the shutdown has delayed the announcement and rollout of those funds, which Rollins confirmed in a Cabinet meeting Thursday.

“It's just disappointment,” Swanson said. “We send our legislators to Washington, D.C., to work on our behalf, and it's frustrating that we find ourselves in a situation where the government has to shut down and it impacts all of us."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Democrats are blocking over $4 billion dollars for our farmers,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement. “The longer the Democrats keep the government shutdown, the more our farmers suffer.”

Even some Hill Republicans are warning that farmers won’t be able to stand by much longer.

“There’s a great deal of stress out there,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) previously told POLITICO, pointing to low grain prices and high input costs. “I’ve heard some rumors ... that some banks have advised some farmers that they ought to sell some of their land.”

Grassley and Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) are among a group of senators who’ve been pushing to meet with Trump directly to discuss farm aid plans — with little success, due to the ongoing shutdown.

Justice said he wants to “level with” with the president on what farmers need.

“The farmers are sitting out there just trying to figure out, ‘Well what am I going to do?’” he said.

Grace Yarrow contributed reporting.