WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue earlier this week announced that many Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices will reopen temporarily to assist U.S. farmers and ranchers.

According to the USDA, approximately 2,500 FSA employees will be available Jan. 17-18 and Jan. 22 to assist agricultural producers with existing farm loans and to ensure the agency provides 1099 tax documents to borrowers by the Internal Revenue Service’s deadline. The offices will be closed for the federal Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, Jan. 21.

“Until Congress sends President Trump an appropriations bill in the form that he will sign, we are doing our best to minimize the impact of the partial federal funding lapse on America’s agricultural producers,” Perdue said. “We are bringing back part of our FSA team to help producers with existing farm loans.  Meanwhile, we continue to examine our legal authorities to ensure we are providing services to our customers to the greatest extent possible during the shutdown.”

Some of the services that the FSA employees will provide during these three days include opening mail to identify priority items and processing payments made on or before Dec. 31, 2018.

The USDA said the FSA employees will not be able to assist with new direct or facility loans, new farm loan guarantees or new marketing assistance loans.

For more information on what services are available click here.