We don't know if this government shutdown will last hours, days, or weeks, but we'll keep preaching: you can't run a country on budgets that you fight about every three months.

Without guaranteed and steady sources of funding, farmers, ranchers, and small towns whose livelihoods rely on the ag industry will bear the brunt of the chaos.

Here's just a sample of what farmers and ranchers will go without:

• Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance (NAP)
• Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP)
• Livestock Forage Program (LFP)
• Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Program
• And many other types of grants, loans, and insurance programs

This is on top of other potential furloughs of essential personnel like air traffic controllers and food safety inspectors. Things no normal nation can go without.

While harvest season is in full force, the majority in charge in Congress has left farmers to try to navigate their government-imposed confusion and uncertainty.

It's disaster by design, but there is a simple solution: Pass a responsible budget that doesn't give ICE more money than whole armies, stop wasting money on unnecessary National Guard deployments, and fund a Farm Bill that makes America's farmers strong again.

This is an incredible unforced error that's putting working people, farmers, and ranchers in rural communities across the country in a panic.

We'll keep you updated.

Heidi

Heidi Heitkamp, Former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
Founder, One Country Project