The federal government officially shut down at 12:01 Wednesday morning. Washington analyst Jim Wiesemeyer says deep political divisions are keeping a resolution out of reach. “The Democrats, (Chuck) Schumer from New York on the front side and Hakeem Jeffries on the House side, wanted to add over $1 trillion to a clean CR,” said Wiesemeyer. “That tells you how far they are apart; I would look to see whether or not there’s any give on the Obamacare health subsidies because that’s your key right now.” The shutdown could have significant consequences for agriculture. “As far as agriculture’s impact, the one thing that was surprising this time is that it’s affecting mandatory spending programs, the Conservation Reserve Program, and the ARC and PLC payments. We haven’t seen that in the last few government shutdowns. So every shutdown is different, and we’re seeing this one, there are big, big changes.”
