Last Wednesday, October 1, 2025, after last-minute negotiations collapsed, the federal government shut down. Congressional leaders remain at an impasse over a short-term funding bill—particularly whether to include an extension of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. Federal agencies are executing their lapse in appropriations plans and furloughing staff.
This shutdown lands on top of broader budget maneuvering that has injected uncertainty into federal farm programs. Farmers across the country are already struggling as crop prices hit record lows, production costs have never been higher, and many have lost foreign markets due to tariffs and the Administration’s trade negotiations.
“Congress must reopen the government and stabilize core supports—extending ACA premium tax credits, protecting WIC and SNAP operations, and getting USDA service centers fully back online. Farmers need predictability, not policy whiplash.” said David Howard, Policy Development Director with the National Young Farmers Coalition.
USDA’s official contingency plan is live, and indicates furloughing of approximately 42,000 employees out of roughly 86,000 currently on board. The Department continues a narrow set of “excepted” operations (e.g., core food safety inspections; certain emergency animal/plant health actions; limited farm-loan servicing to protect government collateral), but will cease payment processing, disaster assistance processing, most technical assistance, and the majority of FSA, NRCS, RMA, RD, NIFA, ERS, NASS and FAS activities, until funding is restored.
“A shutdown isn’t a D.C. headline for our members, it’s a closed USDA door when you need a loan closing, a conservation payment that doesn’t hit, or a WIC clinic that can’t load benefits next week. Young farmers run on tight cash flow. Disruptions like this can tip a season—or a business—over the edge.” said Vanessa Garcia Polanco, Government Relations Director with the National Young Farmers Coalition.
Most of the young farmers in the National Young Farmers Coalition’s network run smaller-scale operations, and though they may not be a part of the commodities market, they are facing hardships due to USDA uncertainty and the government shutdown.
Health care policy remains central to the Congressional impasse, specifically, whether Congress should restore affordable healthcare subsidies to working Americans. Our coalition is committed to addressing the farmer mental health crisis and affordable healthcare is a top priority for many of the farmers in our network. 40% of young farmers named health care costs as “very or extremely challenging” in our last national survey.
As the government shutdown enters its second week, the National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) urges Congress to find a responsible path to reopening the federal government, and to protect affordable healthcare and economic support for our nation’s young farmers and ranchers and our most vulnerable communities.
