Farm Bill Expiration: The Implications?

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As of today, October 1, 2013, the Farm Bill has expired

Well, technically, the Farm Bill extension expired. Moreover, Congress was unable to meet a midnight deadline to fund the government in general, and many government activities have been suspended. What are the implications?

Not much, and a whole lot, all at once.

For example, USDA’s website has gone dark. I tried to visit it this morning. Here’s what it said: “Due to the lapse in federal government funding, this website is not available. We sincerely regret this inconvenience. After funding has been restored, please allow some time for this website to become available again.”

Ok, so no USDA website. But does this mean all USDA activities will be suspended? No. Not in all cases. For example, certain agricultural statistics will not be made available to the public, but inspections in meat packing plants will continue unabated. For more information on the impact of the government shutdown on agriculture, consider visiting this post at farmpolicy.com, which aggregates a lot of the news from around the web.