U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Farmers across the central U.S. have navigated a myriad of challenges this year, including low crop prices and federal funding cuts.

Missouri submitted a waiver to the U.S. Department of Agriculture requesting to certify candy, desserts, soft drinks, and certain fruit juices as ineligible to purchase with SNAP benefits.

Most of the package is earmarked for row-crop producers. It aims to help farmers – especially those who grow soybeans – balance out losses from high costs and a trade war with China.

A federal judge ruled last year Missouri’s food aid system was “overwhelmed,” had wrongly denied assistance to applicants, and had caused many to go hungry. A new bill signed by President Trump will cut SNAP funding and add work requirements, which will likely worsen the problems.

Scouting for Food became a national Scouting America program in 1988, expanding across the country as thousands of scouts collectively gathered hundreds of thousands of pounds of shelf-stable goods for food insecure residents in their local communities.

Federal food assistance has started to flow again after the government reopened. But the charitable food system is planning for continued need through the end of the year.

The federal funding package to reopen the government included a one-year extension of certain 2018 Farm Bill programs. Several expired Sept. 30 or would have been null by the end of the year.

Food assistance benefits were cut off in November due to the government shutdown. That’s led a handful of state agencies to post messages blaming Republicans or Democrats for the shutdown on official websites.

The Missouri Department of Social Services said it was awaiting further instruction about distributing SNAP benefits, as the USDA appeals a court decision requiring it to fully fund the program during the shutdown.

In failing to fully fund the food assistance program that covers 42 million low-income Americans, the judge said the government "failed to consider the harms" to people who rely on the benefits. Kansas City-area food banks and nonprofits were struggling to meet demand.

More than two dozen Democratic-led states, including Kansas, are suing the Agriculture Department after the Trump administration said it would not use emergency funds to pay SNAP benefits during the shutdown.

Supply is expected to surpass traditional grain storage capacity in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Some elevators, including historic Ely's in Nebraska, are adding temporary storage.