While a union representing about 7,000 Oklahoma workers has filed suit over the federal government’s partial shutdown, the funding stalemate continues to play out in Oklahoma as a drip-drip-drip that for most people is more annoyance than crisis.
“There doesn’t seem to be too much kickback,” Rodd Moesel, president of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, said by telephone.
The state’s agriculturalists are among those who could begin to feel the effects of the shutdown if it continues much longer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statistical services, which are crucial to planning and marketing decisions, have been curtailed, and Farm Service Agency offices are closed.
The FSA helps farmers and ranchers with a wide range of government programs, ranging from soil and water conservation to loans to economic analysis.
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Noting that Oklahoma ranks first in processing federal farm loans, Terry Detrick, president of American Farmers and Ranchers/Oklahoma Farmers Union, sounded a more cautionary note than Moesel.
“The uncertainty created by the shutdown has impacted our markets and made us apprehensive about the future,” Detrick said in a written statement. “The longer the shutdown continues the greater the impact will be. We’re concerned about our farmers and ranchers having access to vital government programs through the Farm Service Agency offices.”
Historically, the Farmers Union has represented smaller operators, and that may have been reflected in Detrick’s comments.
“Livestock need to be cared for and the feed bills need to be paid,” he said. “Expenses keep piling up. Producers operating with FSA Farm Credit loans cannot get their money in time to pay bills and are being hurt the most from this shutdown.”
Moesel, though, said he has heard few complaints. He said some farmers and ranchers have been unable to deposit government checks because they require the endorsement of an FSA official, but otherwise the impact has been minimal.
Moesel allowed, though, that the situation could become more serious if the interruption in services continues. Particularly concerned are farmers eligible for payments to offset losses caused by the Trump administration’s trade policy.
Several Oklahomans familiar with the situation said most of those farmers — primarily soybean growers — were paid just ahead of the shutdown. But those who, for tax reasons, delayed filing until after the first of the year now face a Jan. 15 deadline.
Payments to wheat producers, historically the state’s largest cash crop, have been minimal under the Trump administration program, and Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mike Schulte said the shutdown has had little impact on his sector.
Roy Lee Lindsey, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council, said much the same thing, but warned that his and other farm commodity sectors could be disrupted by diminished access to data.
“Two things are good news for us,” Lindsey said. “The inspections services are considered essential and are continuing to happen, and the daily market reports are still happening.”
Lindsey said the daily market reports keep everyone abreast of sales prices.
But other data, such as a reports on the number of animals slaughtered and at what weight, are not being compiled. Over time, Lindsey said, that begins to play havoc with planning and marketing, which can lead to over- or under-supply and marketplace inefficiencies.
This all comes as farmers and ranchers are already uneasy because of diminishing access to overseas markets caused by trade disputes.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the U.S. withdrew from in 2017, has gone forward, and China is pressing to conclude a 16-nation trade agreement, called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, that would include Australia and India.
Earlier this week, the American Federation of Government Employees, with about 800,000 members nationwide, sued the federal government over employees being forced to work through the shutdown without pay.
AFGE District 9, which encompasses Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas, is headquartered in Oklahoma City and represents many of the employees at the Mike Monroney Federal Aviation Administration Center.
It has about 7,000 members in Oklahoma, according to the District 9 office, but it was not immediately known how many of those live in northeastern Oklahoma.
