The Sequester Monster

The impending deadline for “sequestration” has taken on the character of a looming cataclysmic event or awakening of a sleeping monster in a horror movie - a monster with an axe aimed at all government spending.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called sequester one of the “man-made” risks facing agriculture right now. “You all know that March 1 will come, and if it comes before Congress has acted that the sequester will be triggered, and what that will mean for USDA is every line item, virtually every line item, of our budget will have to be reduced by a certain percentage, and that percentage could be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 to 6 percent,” Vilsack said during the opening of USDA’s annual Ag Outlook Conference this week. “And that’s an annual percentage, which means we have to implement this reduction in the remaining portion of the fiscal year, which will be approximately 6 months. That means it is really the impact of the effect of a 10-to-12-percent reduction of our remaining resources, and unlike normal circumstances where the Congress will direct you to reduce funding but give you the flexibility to choose where and how, this is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item by the same percentage.”

Vilsack added that the next deadline facing Congress on March 27 also creates a man-made risk for farmers. “If Congress has not continued the budget process and provided a continuation of the Continuing Resolution or passed a budget, theoretically all government activity stops, and that, of course, would impact our trade promotion efforts. It would impact food safety. It would impact the ability to provide credit to farmers right at the time when they have to finalize the credit opportunities to put their crop in the ground. This is another risk that’s manmade and can be avoided,” said Vilsack.

The sequester monster is coming on March 1 - watch for the sequel “Son of Sequester” coming March 27.