US FSA Recalls 2,500 Staff to Reopen Offices During Shutdown - Agriculture Chief

"US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that many Farm Service Agency offices will reopen temporarily in the coming days to perform certain limited services for farmers and ranchers," the release said.

The Department of Agriculture has recalled about 2,500 FSA employees to open offices on Thursday, January 17 and Friday, January 18, in addition to Tuesday, January 22, during normal business hours, the release explained.

"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 in the release.

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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 tax documents to borrowers by the Internal Revenue Service’s deadline, the release said.

The partial shutdown of the US government started on 22 December after congressional Democrats refused to approve a spending bill that allocated $5.7 billion to build a wall on the southern border that President Donald Trump has demanded.

The shutdown so far has cost the US economy around $3.6 billion, Standard & Poor's Chief US Economist Beth Ann Bovino said in a statement on Friday. The S&P estimate also indicates that a shutdown lasting for two more weeks would cost the US economy nearly $6 billion, exceeding the $5.7 billion sought by Trump for his much-anticipated border wall project.