County offices closed Dec. 28, 2018, due to the lapse in appropriation. More information on USDA-wide resources and services can be found here.

Market Facilitation Program payments for producers that have already certified production with the Farm Service Agency will continue beyond Jan. 1, 2019. Signup for the Market Facilitation Program ends on Jan. 15, 2019. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will determine if the deadline should be extended. You do not need to be finished with harvest to sign up. Farmers have until May 1, 2019, to certify production.

All commodity loan activity has ceased as of Jan. 3, 2019. Access to the following automated FSA systems will no longer be available: Commodity Loan Processing System, Cotton On-Line Processing System, Automated Cotton Reporting System, and Centralized Cotton Redemption.

Farm-stored commodities pledged as Commodity Credit Corporation collateral can be marketed or fed, however, the following activities will not be processed while the government is shutdown: Loan repayments, loan disbursements, refunds or termination of transfers.

During the shutdown, movement of collateral will be treated the same as loan collateral moved on a non-workday. Producers with farm-stored loans may move loan collateral to non-designated structures during this period without prior written approval, provided the producer requests a CCC-681-1 Marketing Authorization on the next business day either by phone or in person.

Loan applications will not be processed or considered until the lapse in federal funding has been resolved.

If borrowers wish to remit payments, checks and money orders can be sent by mail to the local FSA office. Payments will be credited after the lapse in federal funding has been resolved. The postmark on the envelope will be used as the received date of the payment. FSFL and Direct Loans will not be deemed delinquent if a borrower is unable to make a payment due to offices being closed because of a lapse in federal funding.

Customers requesting the release of proceeds from the sale of crops, livestock or other security are advised to contact the office after the lapse in federal funding has been resolved. You can find your local office by visiting https://www.farmers.gov/service-locator.