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Oct. 6, 2025 Source: Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance Ankeny, IA -- A federal shutdown effectively freezes nearly all USDA-funded agricultural conservation work, with 95% of NRCS staff furloughed and program payments paused. Why it matters: NRCS provides the technical and financial backbone for conservation on Iowa farms. Without it, many projects like wetlands or prairie planting are stalled. Meanwhile, this does not impact privately funded or state-run projects, unless they are done in collaboration with federal funding or agencies (and many are). Zooming out: Iowa typically has 475 NRCS employees working on conservation. During the shutdown, fewer than 500 staff are left to cover the entire country. In FY24, NRCS put $100 million into Iowa farms--momentum that's now paused. Farmer takeaways: •All USDA conservation technical assistance is halted. •CRP and other payments (usually sent in October) are delayed. •The Oct. 10 conservation funding deadline for the year still stands, as of now, but we'll let you know if that changes. The bottom line: This comes at a time when producers are already facing big challenges like disease, low crop prices, high debt, and trade disputes on the international stage. Even short interruptions in payments could deepen farmers' economic turmoil. How long will it last? No telling. But NBC compiled the length of shutdowns since 1976 and these are the longest on record. •2018: 34 days •1995: 21 days •1978: 17 days •2013: 16 days Go deeper: Read the 55-page USDA shutdown plan here. Tweet |
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