While many across the country are celebrating the reopening of the federal government, farmers in Western Kentucky say the victory is only partial. With the 2018 Farm Bill only temporarily extended, local producers fear the programs they rely on will not be strong enough to meet today’s economic reality.
When President Donald Trump signed legislation to end the shutdown, funding for federal agencies — including the U.S. Department of Agriculture — was restored. But the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the Farm Bill, remains in limbo with only short-term authorization.
The bill supports critical programs such as crop insurance, conservation efforts, trade initiatives and disaster aid. Graves County farmer Keith Lowry, who has worked the land for more than five decades, says the extension provides little reassurance at a time when production costs and weather risks are rising rapidly.
“Our needs back in 2018 are so much different from those today,” Lowry told WPSD. “We needed an update. We need something to help us now that we have the problems we have seven or eight years later. Every farmer will tell you that we need a good, solid Farm Bill.”
Lowry says the cost of doing business has doubled since 2018 — including seed, fertilizer, chemicals and land rent — while commodity prices have not kept pace.
“To grow a good, abundant crop, we need those costs to come down somehow,” he said. “We need some type of safety net just to keep us in business. We don’t want a bailout. We want free markets. We want to sell our crops around the world — but we do need to stay in business.”
Lowry also stressed the need to protect foreign trade relationships, pointing to the U.S.–China trade war, which diverted soybean purchases to South America. For local farmers, he said, reliable access to global markets is essential.
“We need a relationship with everyone in the world,” he said. “We can provide — better than any country — the availability of soybeans and other crops. But we need those trade markets open to sell our products.”
National farm leaders echoed similar concerns. In a statement, American Soybean Association President Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky farmer himself, praised Congress for ending the shutdown but urged lawmakers to prioritize agricultural policy.
“Now that the government is open, growers need the federal government to get to work delivering much-needed farmer assistance and advancing other priorities that will help grow demand for U.S. soy,” Ragland said. “ASA is glad Congress found a path forward and urges lawmakers to keep that momentum going for America’s farmers.”
During the shutdown, USDA Farm Service Agency offices temporarily closed, halting access to disaster aid, loans and essential paperwork. While Lowry Farms Inc. continued operations, Lowry said he was grateful for the staff who quietly worked during the shutdown.
“We as farmers are very appreciative of that,” he said. “We need our local FSA offices open to work with us — whatever programs come.”
Despite a difficult season marked by extreme weather and soaring costs, Lowry says farmers will keep going — because they don’t know any other way.
Lowry said in his 52 years of farming, they’ve all tolerated things people wouldn’t believe.
“It’s just something that’s bred into us. It’s what we do for a living. That’s all we know… we’re in it for the long haul — even through the tough times,” said Lowry.
