Frank Morris
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It's closed, and now is a bad time for farmers to lose that lifeline.
The prices farmers are getting for the corn, wheat, and soybeans they grow don't come close to covering the cost of producing them.
Tariffs have a lot to do with that, and President Trump has promised farmers a bailout to partially compensate for their trade war losses.
But Pat Westhoff, an economist at the University of Missouri, says that's not happening anytime soon.
Things aren't going to go forward until the government's open again, it appears to me.
Farmers can't expect immediate help when the government does reopen.
The USDA has lost about 20,000 employees this year.
And every day the shutdown drags on, more work backs up.
For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris in Kansas City.
Federal farm subsidies go through the U.S.
It's closed and now is a bad time for farmers to lose that lifeline.
The prices farmers are getting for the corn, wheat and soybeans they grow don't come close to covering the cost of producing them.
Tariffs have a lot to do with that.
And President Trump has promised farmers a bailout to partially compensate for their trade war losses.
But Pat Westhoff, an economist at the University of Missouri, says that's not happening anytime soon.
Things aren't going to go forward until the government's open again, it appears to me.
Farmers can't expect immediate help when the government does reopen.
The USDA has lost about 20,000 employees this year.
And every day the shutdown drags on, more work backs up.