With Monday’s expiration of the one-year extension of the 2008 Farm Bill, coupled with the shutdown of the federal government, the ASA took Congress to task for another failed opportunity to provide the nation’s soybean farmers with the certainty they need to remain competitive and plan for the future. Compounding this most recent Congressional dysfunction is the expiration of funding for key U.S. Department of Agriculture programs as a result of the federal shutdown of what are improperly considered “non-essential” government activities. “Congress has yet again failed its most basic duty: to debate and pass legislation and, frankly, we’ve run out of ways to say we’re disappointed,” said ASA President Danny Murphy. “The farm bill authorizes and provides critical funding for myriad programs on which farmers depend, including key conservation programs, indispensable foreign food assistance and market development activities, and industry-advancing research. These and other programs have helped to make American agriculture a bright spot throughout the recession and into the recovery. We’ve created jobs, supported rural communities and fed our neighbors both at home and abroad. All of these programs will come to a grinding halt tomorrow because this Congress is more interested in scoring partisan political points than serving its constituents. Once again, Congress fails to act and American farmers pay the price.”