Todd Davis says a lack of an October supply and demand report, which was scheduled to be released on Thursday, could create market volatility.

“Farmers look to these reports as an update on crop production and an updated forecast of global supply, global demand, and the price forecast for U.S. corn and soybeans,” he says. “The market notices when it does not have that information.”

He tells Brownfield nearly half of USDA’s employees have been furloughed, slowing data collection and could disrupt export sales.

“To really be competitive in the export market for China is from our harvest to about February or March,” he says. “That window is closing. Anything that can help American soybean farmers is going to have to happen quickly.”

Davis says the longer the shutdown continues, the more pressure farmers will feel trying to prepare for the 2026 crop year.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a plan over the weekend to avert a partial government shutdown that included the continuation of funding for “critical agricultural programs” authorized by the farm bill, the heads of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees said in a statement Sunday.

Agriculture leaders stress a farm bill extension is necessary to avoid a lapse in funding for critical safety net programs and a reversion back to Depression-era law, which would send food prices soaring. Although the farm bill expired Sept. 30, farmers aren’t expected to feel the effects until safety net programs end on Dec. 31, 2023.

Shutdown threats in September plus a prolonged speaker election pushed out consideration of the farm bill, which governs hundreds of billions of dollars in food and agriculture spending. Leaders are hoping to approve legislation next year, but they have not provided an immediate timeline for passage.

“This extension is in no way a substitute for passing a 5-year Farm Bill and we remain committed to working together to get it done next year,” committee leaders said in a statement on the Farm Bill extension.

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