The U.S. Senate Thursday will consider two proposals to end the government shutdown, but both are expected to fail. Still, many say the move is an opening of negotiations in Congress to reach an agreement. It also marks a shift from Senate Leader Mitch McConnell who previously said the Senate would not consider bills that are destined fail.

In December, he said the Senate would only consider bills that would produce a solution to all parties and be supported before a vote. The Senate will consider a Republican backed proposal to reopen the government, along with the Democratic-backed and House passed proposal.

The votes come on the same day the Department of Agriculture is reopening Farm Service Agency offices after recalling more 9,000 workers to provide services to farmers, which farmers have lacked during the shutdown.

In a list of goals last week, the European Union left out agriculture for its upcoming negotiations with the United States. An expected move, the action starts the talks off on a sour note as agriculture was one of the objectives for the United States.

The Trump Administration goals included a desire to “secure comprehensive market access for U.S. agricultural goods by eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers for farm goods,” according to Politico. A deal without agriculture has little U.S. support from lawmakers.

Also last week, U.S. Representative Roger Marshal of Kansas said in an editorial that if agriculture isn’t in the deal, he and other in Congress “will not consider it or support it.” In the editorial, Marshall urged the Trump Administration to continue to fight for farmers in the trade negotiations. According to the U.S. Trade Representative, the U.S. domestic exports of agricultural products to the EU totaled $11.5 billion in 2016.

The Food and Drug Administration is considering calling back more furloughed workers to help with inspections of high-risk foods. The FDA last week said it would restart inspections of high-risk foods that had been stopped due to the federal government shutdown.

Over the weekend, Gottlieb took to Twitter to say, “more staff could be on the way depending on needs.” He says the FDA has called back about 100 investigators and 35 supervisors for high-risk food inspections. Among the foods the FDA considers high risk are seafood, select dairy products, unpasteurized juices, fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, shell eggs, sandwiches, prepared salads and infant formula.

Meanwhile, The National Pork Producers Federation reminded the nation over the weekend that federal meat inspectors are working in meat packing plants despite the government shutdown. NPPC and other livestock groups a year ago urged USDA to deem inspectors as essential employees, because without inspectors, “meat and poultry processing plants are prohibited by law from operating.”

The trade war is causing U.S. ethanol production to decline, thus raising the costs of distillers dried grains, a byproduct of the ethanol process that is used for animal feed.

Reuters reports cuts to ethanol production are tightening supplies of DDGs and raising prices paid by livestock farmers. Many are turning to other feeds including soybean meal, the price of which eased as China halted imports of American soybeans. The shift in distillers’ grain demand is causing further harm to the ethanol industry, which is facing the lowest ethanol prices in over a decade.

Distillers’ grains have previously helped the struggling sector, by providing solid demand for the byproduct. But, that support is eroding as production is being limited. Ethanol makers were forced to limit production rates over the last year due to the low price, in an effort to deal with negative profit margins. The shift to soybean meal from DDGs is largely seen in the hog sector. Meanwhile, China, the top importer of U.S. DDGs, stopped buying the product last year due to the trade war.

The government shutdown could cause a ripple effect across the federal government for years, according to former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Vilsack recently told Politico that the effects could take years to realize, like the ramifications of pausing some Forest Service efforts to reduce fire hazards.

Specifically, Vilsack said, “You may not see the consequences of this until August of next year, when there is a worse fire than we would have had.” The shutdown is prompting many sectors of the U.S. economy, from real estate to agriculture, to brace for years of setbacks that include the pause in government loans and permitting processes.

Vilsack served as Agriculture Secretary from 2009 to 2017 under the Obama administration. He now serves as President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. The Department of Agriculture last week opened select Farm Service Agency offices for three days to serve farmers. However, the offices were reported to be near overwhelmed from the workload.

The volume of non-real estate farm debt continued to increase in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the Federal Reserve’s Agricultural Finance Databook. Total non-real estate farm loans were up nearly eight percent from a year ago, which was the seventh consecutive quarter of annual growth in loan volumes.

In a news release, the Federal Reserve said the increase in farm financing continued to be driven by lending to fund current operating expenses. The volume of operating loans reached a historical high for the fourth quarter, increasing more than $10 billion, or 22 percent year over year. Rounding out a year characterized by lower farm incomes, uncertainties about agricultural trade and the growth of lending volumes, interest rates on agricultural loans trended higher.

The combination of increased lending needs and higher interest rates has continued to raise the cost of financing at a modest pace. However, despite mounting pressure on the farm sector and limited profit opportunities, the value of farm real estate has continued to provide ongoing support for farmers.