Many Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices will reopen temporarily to perform certain limited services for farmers and ranchers during the government shutdown, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced in a Jan. 16 news release.
Offices reopened Thursday, Jan. 17, and will be open Friday, Jan. 18, and Tuesday, Jan. 22. The offices will be closed for the federal Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday, Jan. 21.
Southeast Arkansas FSA locations include Jefferson County Service Center, 100 E. Eighth Ave., Room 2603 of the federal building at Pine Bluff, 870-727-6147; Ashley County Service Center, Hamburg; Lincoln County Service Center, Star City; Lonoke County Service Center, Lonoke; and Phillips County Service Center, Helena.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recalled about 2,500 FSA employees.
“In almost half of FSA locations, FSA staff will be available to assist agricultural producers with existing farm loans and to ensure the agency provides 1099 tax documents to borrowers by the Internal Revenue Service’s deadline,” according to the release.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Until Congress sends President Trump an appropriations bill in the form that he will sign, we are doing our best to minimize the impact of the partial federal funding lapse on America’s agricultural producers,” Perdue said. “We are bringing back part of our FSA team to help producers with existing farm loans. Meanwhile, we continue to examine our legal authorities to ensure we are providing services to our customers to the greatest extent possible during the shutdown.”
Staff members will be available at certain FSA offices to help producers with specific services, including: Processing payments made on or before Dec. 31, 2018; continuing expiring financing statements; and opening mail to identify priority items.
Information on the locations of FSA offices to be open will be posted: on the USDA website, on Twitter at @SecretarySonny and @USDA and on USDA’s Facebook.