The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will reopen approximately 2,100 Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices nationwide during the ongoing government shutdown to assist farmers and ranchers in accessing roughly $3 billion in aid from existing programs.

Each reopened FSA office will operate with two staff members who will receive pay despite the shutdown, aiming to help agricultural producers apply for essential services such as farm loans, crop insurance, disaster assistance and other government programs.

Driving the news: Thousands of other federal employees across different agencies, including air traffic controllers, are continuing to work without pay as the partial federal government shutdown persists. • Recent tensions have arisen within the agricultural communi

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