On December 28, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated the functions available during the lapse in funding caused by the partial government shutdown.
USDA will continue the following functions, including but not limited to:
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Meat, poultry, and processed egg inspection services;
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Grain and other commodity inspection, weighing, grading, and IT support services funded by user fees;
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Inspections for import and export activities to prevent pests;
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Trade mitigation purchases made by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service;
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Forest Service law enforcement, emergency and natural disaster response, and national defense preparedness efforts;
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Minimal administrative and management support will be maintained;
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Market Facilitation Program payments for producers that have already certified production with the Farm Service Agency;
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Agricultural export credit and other agricultural trade development and monitoring activities;
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USDA’s Market News Service, which provides market information to the agricultural industry.
The USDA press release may be found here:
Additional information from the USDA may be found here:
https://www.usda.gov/shutdownplans
