The ordinance approved last week by Delaware County Commissioners was prompted by a proposed 10,560-head hog farm that's currently tied up in court.

All FSA offices shut down Dec. 28 and those staff were furloughed without pay. A few offices re-opened for limited hours and services on Jan. 17.

Indiana regulators have a granted a key permit for an organic dairy farm that could become home to more than 4,000 cows in Newton County.

The dairy farm has been the subject of a lawsuit between the county and the Hoosier Environmental Council since September.

The rules made it harder for farmers to put large amounts of antibiotics in livestock feed or water without going through a veterinarian.

Farmers are worried the partial federal government shutdown might further delay a proposal to allow gasoline with 15 percent ethanol to be sold year-round.

Some of the priorities this session include rural school funding, insuring deployment of expanded broadband, tax values, hemp, confined feeding and township government.

One multi-state lawsuit, led by Indiana, challenged a law approved by Massachusetts voters in 2016 that requires minimum living spaces for pigs and calves and also mandates that all eggs come from cage-free hens by 2022.

Four years ago, Indiana farms made a total of about $3 billion. The past three years though, that average has dropped by more than half.

The Farm Service Agency is the office that processes payments. Local offices are closing Friday because of the partial government shutdown.