More pain for US farmers as government shutdown halts payments

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. federal government shutdown that began Wednesday will halt some payments to farmers and delay access to federal farm loans, the latest blow for producers already facing low crop prices, record-high debts and a trade war at the height of the fall harvest. On Wednesday, the scope of the shutdown's potential impact to U.S. farmers was beginning to emerge. "It costs money to run those combines," said Chad Hart, agricultural economist with Iowa State University.