With the U.S. federal government being in shutdown for over a week now, and no end to date on the horizon, so far, members of the produce industry report that they're not seeing the impacts of the shutdown.
"As of now we're not seeing any disruption in the supply chain," says C.J. Buxman of Sunny Cal Farms based in Reedley, CA. "Our USDA-based school program partners are reporting business as usual, with no rumors yet of funding disruptions within their purchasing departments. So far, we're not hearing any supply chain disruptions with our southern border partners or import partners either. This could change as the shutdown period lengthens. However, at this moment, we are not feeling any negative ramifications of the government shutdown."
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At Peri & Sons in Yerington, NV, Jessica Peri says the company has also not been impacted by the shutdown. "We don't rely on government loans or grants and our local Nevada Department of Ag continues to provide the phytosanitary and Canadian Inspections required to keep shipping onions to Mexico and Canada as well as other countries," she says, adding that she was told these inspections services are not funded by the USDA.
"We noticed that the government shutdown did not affect our Market News reports or our USDA inspection service," says Harris S. Cutler of Race-West Co., Inc. in Summit, PA. "For us for now, it is business as usual."
For more information:
CJ Buxman
Sunny Cal Farms
https://www.sunnycalfarms.com/
Jessica Peri
Peri & Sons Farms
http://www.periandsons.com/
Harris S. Cutler
Race-West Company, Inc.
https://www.race-west.com/
