Kansas farmers voice fears of falling behind due to government shut down

The government shutdown is the second longest in U.S. history. The House of Representatives has voted to pass a funding bill for the federal government, although Davids voted against it Sept. 19. Davids is a Democrat in a Congress where Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House.

The Senate still needs to approve the bill with 60 votes. Davids said she hopes to see a bipartisan solution reached in the Senate, although she did not discuss efforts to speak with senators Wednesday.

Now on its 23rd day, the shutdown has cut off farmers’ access to grants, subsidies and crop market reports.

“Producers are being forced to make major financial decisions in the dark,” Davids, 3rd District representative, said. “These programs are truly a lifeline for rural America. They help our farmers recover when markets crash … They keep small towns strong and food on our tables.”

Davids organized a virtual press conference Wednesday with Adam Phelon, a corn and soybean farmer from Garnett; Steve Bowlin, a produce farmer from Olathe; Nick Levendofsky, Executive Director of the Kansas Farmers Union; and Mike Beam, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, to discuss the real-time impact on Kansas farms.

Bowlin, who operates the Bowlin Family Farm on 115th Street, said the issues on his farm go beyond the programs he has been cut off from.

“We still have people that are hungry, and with food stamps being shut down … people can’t buy food,” he said. “I’ve noticed a change just in the past few weeks here at the market on the farm, sales being way down. People are just not spending the money to buy fresh produce.”

On top of part of his customer base being cut off, Bowlin said he and other farmers are being forced to plan for the spring without the aid of the aforementioned government programs.

“We need to get these programs back up and running … Every day is kind of like a ticking time bomb, and it’s not getting any easier by any means for all of us here on the farm,” Bowlin said. “We’re going to be in a world of hurt trying to produce enough food to feed everybody.”

Phelon echoed Bowlin’s sentiments, specifically in relation to planning for next year. He said not being able to make loan payments causes requests for extensions, which causes farmers to rethink how they can spend money for the next harvest.

“We’re not able to sit here and make decisions for the coming year,” Phelon said. “If we’re not able to do that, it creates that snowball effect where it may not be a big problem right now … even when the government does get back up and running, we’re going to be so far behind.”