AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — While the federal government shutdown continues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reopened all Farm Service Agency county offices across the country. Starting Oct. 23, offices were allowed to bring back up to two employees to restore key services.

Adam Rabinowitz, a specialist with Alabama Extension at Auburn University, said fall is a critical season for farmers to have access to payments administered through the Farm Service Agency.

“Harvest time can be very difficult on cash flow, as all of the money has been spent to grow the crop,” said Rabinowitz, who is also an associate professor in Auburn’s College of Agriculture. “If the sale of all that crop had to occur at this time, it would flood the market with supply and bring down commodity prices lower than they already are.”

Programs Available

While restored services are limited, Farm Service Agency offices are restarting marketing assistance loans and commodity safety net programs.

“The marketing assistance loan is an opportunity for the farmer to borrow from the USDA to sell their harvested, covered commodities over a nine-month period,” Rabinowitz said. “This allows farmers to cover their cash flow needs and not just take the price available at harvest. For safety net programs, October is when payments are first issued for the Price Loss Coverage and Agricultural Risk Coverage for the previous crop year. This year, there should be payments made for the 2024 crop year.”

There is an estimated $3 billion available to U.S. farmers through these programs, all of which comes from previous appropriations. Rabinowitz said Price Loss Coverage payments are especially important for Alabama farmers who have peanut or cotton base acres.

“The timing of these payments and marketing loans are very important as row crop producers harvest their 2025 crops and look to repay current operating loans to best plan for next year,” Rabinowitz said. “For Price Loss Coverage, peanut base has a $13-per-ton-per-acre payment rate, while seed cotton is projected to have a 2.69-cent-per-pound-per-acre payment rate. Agricultural Risk Coverage payments are county specific. There are some crops and counties in Alabama that are expected to trigger Agricultural Risk Coverage payments.”

It is unclear how long Farm Service Agency offices will remain open. For more specific details, Rabinowitz said it is best for farmers to contact the office in their specific county. For contact information, visit offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app.