As the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history continues, government employees as well as those who rely on federal agencies in Iowa have been affected.

A lapse in funding has caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to shutdown some services and programs such as issuing new rural development loans and grants and commodity outlook reports, along with other Economic Research Service outlooks. U.S. Representative for Iowa’s Third District Cindy Axne discussed the new hardship this shutdown has created for farmers at a public event in Guthrie Center on January 12th. She said she recently spoke with an Adair County farmer who said this shutdown is one of several setbacks he’s dealt with in the last few years, “He’s in a bind, he can’t pay off his loans because he can’t get his checks stamped, he can’t deposit them and therefore he’s unable to take out his new operating loan for this year. He’s missing out on those early discounts that he could get. The other thing is, the reports that need to be issued to help them predict crop sales, that was supposed to have been issued this week, didn’t happen. They’re not able to operate, they don’t know how to make decisions. They are physically and quite honestly, mentally, hurting as a result of this. They don’t know how much more they can take, they’re at a breaking point.”

Axne adds that she sent a letter to congressional leadership asking them to reopen the USDA so further struggling for farmers can be prevented. Axne also requested last week that her paycheck be withheld until further notice, stating in a letter that she does not believe “that it is appropriate for Members of Congress to receive paychecks while Iowa families suffer and our security is compromised due to government dysfunction.”