Thykeson: ‘Back to Business as Normal’

As of 8 o’clock Thursday morning, all Farm Service Agency employees reported back to their county offices. North Dakota FSA State Executive Director Brad Thykeson asks farmers to stay in close contact with their county offices, noting that some program deadlines will be extended because of the furlough. “We’ve been kind of handcuffed during this time, especially on our loan side, where producers have had a tough time getting, say, a third-party check endorsed,” he says. “Those people are back in the office now, so I encourage producers to get those commodity checks in and get some of these operating notes paid off and start that communication with your loan officer to start looking forward to 2026.”