GAINESVILLE, Ga. — As of Wednesday, Oct. 1, the United States government is shutdown. In the US, government shutdowns happen because funding legislation needed to finance the federal government is not put into effect before the new fiscal year. In this instance, Congress was unable to come to an agreement on the budget.
But what does this mean for the agriculture and poultry industries?
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture shared their contingency plan that will be used in the event of lapse in appropriations, aka a government shutdown. The plan explains which operations and services will or will not continue during a shutdown.
According to the plan, “FSIS will continue to perform mission essential food safety operations required to protect life and property, including statutorily required inspection of meat, poultry, and egg products, investigations necessary to protect public health (outbreaks, recalls, etc.), laboratory work essential to identifying public health concerns and threats, emergency preparedness, and minimum levels of other support functions necessary to maintain these activities.”
Although inspections will continue, “states may run out of funds to perform key inspection services, including the Meat and Poultry Inspection programs run in a total of 29 states.”
Georgia currently has its own meat inspection program.
The USDA’s contingency plan specifically addresses the concerns of the poultry industry during a government shutdown, which provides some relief for producers and processors.
“The main issue for us in the wake of a government shutdown is USDA inspection in our processing plants,” Tom Super, senior vice president of communications for the National Chicken Council, said. “As expected, FSIS confirmed meat and poultry inspection will continue uninterrupted. In addition, AMS grading services should continue as scheduled as they, too, are considered essential employees.”
“While the government shutdown is a concern to egg producers, it is important to know that most core activities related to our industry will continue,” Chad Gregory, President and CEO, United Egg Producers, said. “This includes essential food safety operations…as well as egg grading and animal health emergency programs, including those for highly pathogenic avian influenza. We look forward to the finalizing of an agreement that returns USDA and FDA to full services to support America’s egg farmers.”
The USDA is adamant about ending this government shutdown, so that they can get back to helping America’s agriculture industry.
“The Democrat shutdown will cause real harm to American farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” a USDA spokesperson said. “President Trump has made it clear through his support of H.R. 5371 that he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people. For more information on what USDA programs and services are impacted by the Democrat shutdown, please visit https://www.usda.gov/shutdownplans.
“USDA will continue core operations, including critical services and support functions like animal and plant health emergency programs (including new world screwworm, highly pathogenic avian influenza, exotic fruit flies, African swine fever, and rabies),” a USDA spokesperson continued.
