A sign telling the public that federal agricultural offices were closed was placed on the door of the agency Tuesday morning.

Federal agricultural employees closed their Moultrie office Tuesday morning and left a note saying they would return when Congress resumes funding.

The closing of the United States Department of Agriculture Service Center was brought on by the failure of the U.S. House and Senate to agree on legislation to fund the federal government.

The departure of USDA workers could put a crimp in some farmers’ plans as peanut harvest is in full swing and cotton picking gets under way.

Farmers due federal payments at this time and need that money to pay harvesting expenses could have problems.

Funds are distributed “not all at once, they’re distributed during the year,” said Colquitt County agricultural extension agent Glenn Beard. “Those people who need the money for harvest, they (federal workers) can’t divvy it out because they’re not there.”

Beard said he did not know how many peanut and cotton growers could be facing that situation, but it probably is not a large number.

The service in Moultrie includes those who administer farm programs and conservation.

“They came in first thing this morning, got the email and went back home,” said Beard, whose office is across the hall from the federal workers in a county-owned building on Veterans Parkway. “The federal guys will stay out until they’re told different.”

A sign left on the door at the office said it was closed due to the lapse in federal government funding and will reopen when Congress restores funds.

At Moultrie-Colquitt County Airport, operations will continue as normal, said Alan Mathis, whose company Eagles of America Inc. runs operations there and at Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in Albany.

“We have a contract to sell fuel to federal airplanes,” Mathis said. “The federal airplanes we deal with, the military planes, are not de-funded. We’ve had no effect whatsoever.”

The company also sells fuel to some federal aircraft not used for military purposes, but it’s a rarity, he said.

“We do get a lot of military traffic, especially at our Albany location,” Mathis said.