Unless you’ve been stuck in the combine, hauling grain to the elevator/ethanol plant/feedyard, weaning and/or ...

Unless you've been stuck in the combine, hauling grain to the elevator/ethanol plant/feedyard, weaning and/or selling calves, calving fall calves, breeding sows, shipping fat hogs, or the multitude of other activities that sound far better than watching the news, you'd know we're on Day #3 of a federal government shutdown. It's possible and even likely this action hasn't really impacted much of your daily life. However, from a Nebraska Farm Bureau perspective, this shutdown isn't just about federal offices not being open and federal employees being furloughed. While those things are important, I'll remind everyone that not once has a federal government shutdown actually resulted in any level of federal spending being reduced. What matters more to us is the long list of items left for Congress and federal agencies to tackle that are currently on hold. At a time when agriculture is waiting on key rules and regulations, such as the clarity and finality we've long sought on WOTUS, this shutdown grinds that process to a halt. Producers deserve a government that works as hard and consistently as they do-not one that stalls out when politics get in the way.

This shutdown also delays progress on critical legislative priorities. Farmers and ranchers across the country need Congress to advance "Farm Bill 2.0", the remaining Farm Bill programs not included in the One Big Beautiful Bill, so that they can continue without interruption. Equally important is the need to move forward on policies that will expand markets and grow demand, like Senator Fischer and Congressman Smith's year-round E15 bill. Growth in our nation and state's biofuels industry provides economic opportunity for rural communities, and holding up these decisions only prolongs the challenges farmers face from volatile commodity prices and tight margins. Finally, the discussion of potential farm aid payments-whether from the Trump administration or Congress-highlights just how critical a functioning government is to rural America. It's time for Washington to put politics aside, end the shutdown, and deliver the certainty and solutions our farm and ranch families need.