More pain for US farmers as government shutdown halts payments

By Leah Douglas, P.J. Huffstutter and Julie Ingwersen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. federal government shutdown that began Wednesday will halt some payments to farmers and delay access to federal farm loans, the latest blow for producers already facing low crop prices, record-high debts and a trade war at the height of the fall harvest.

The shutdown began at midnight after Republican and Democratic lawmakers could not agree on a plan to fund federal government operations. It will last until one party gets enough votes for its funding plan.

On Wednesday, the scope of the shutdown’s potential impact to U.S. farmers was beginning to emerge. Even short interruptions in payments could deepen farmers’ economic turmoil.

“It costs money to run those combines,” said Chad Hart, agricultural eco