RALEIGH, N.C. -- “It’s kind of disgusting to us and disgusting to the farmers.”
- NC Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler says the federal government shutdown is making a bad situation worse for North Carolina farmers.
- Aid that farmers are in need of, isn't coming anytime soon.
- There are 7,500 farmers waiting to get about a quarter of a billion dollars worth of aid.
North Carolina’s lead advocate for agriculture is not mincing any words.
NC Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler says the federal government shutdown is making a bad situation worse for North Carolina farmers.
“The local FSA offices have been wonderful to help and to work with us,” said Troxler. "But there is nothing they can do when they are shutdown. They are basically under a gag order. If they talk to somebody, if they conduct business outside the shutdown, they can be fired.”
That means aid that farmers are in need of, isn't coming anytime soon.
“The state set it up for it to go through a federal system that everybody knew how it worked,” said Gov. Roy Cooper. “But now because of the government shutdown those payments may be delayed.”
At Tuesday's Council of State meeting, Gov. Cooper asked some of the state's top officials to help any way they could.
“Any encouraging you can do with members of congress, the President to come to some agreement to get government back up and running I think would be a positive thing,” said Cooper.
There are 7,500 farmers waiting to get about a quarter of a billion dollars worth of aid. From Hurricanes Matthew to Florence, combined with tariffs and low commodity prices, Troxler says he has seen more tears from farmers this year than he ever has before.
“It took about 18 months to get a farm bill written out of Washington,” said Troxler. “We finally at least got a farm bill. But you know out of Washington, there just doesn't seem to be that sense of urgency and crisis that is really out here in the farm world right now. And every little thing that happens just adds to the pain.”