Hyde Smith urges Congress to address farm crisis
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has raised alarm about the severe economic crisis affecting family farmers and rural communities across the country. Speaking in the Senate during the ongoing government shutdown, she urged Congress to act quickly to protect the nation’s agricultural foundation.
The shutdown has disrupted critical U.S. Department of Agriculture programs and limited farmers’ access to essential services. Hyde-Smith emphasized that without urgent federal assistance, many family farms may not survive. She called it an emergency threatening both food security and the stability of rural America.
The Senator acknowledged recent progress through market loss assistance and updates to the commodity price structure under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. However, she said farmers still face difficult choices about whether to plant next year or remain in business. To help bridge the gap, she advocated for immediate funding to sustain farms through this challenging period.
Hyde-Smith also expressed optimism about bipartisan efforts to finalize a new five-year Farm Bill. She encouraged policies that would strengthen global competitiveness for U.S. producers, noting that other nations like China, Argentina, and Brazil are expanding rapidly.
Highlighting long-term solutions, she pointed to her Buying American Cotton Act (S.1919), which would offer tax credits for cotton products made with U.S. cotton. The bill aims to rebuild the domestic cotton industry, boost manufacturing, and ensure that American farmers remain central to supply chains.
“In this world of global competition, we must revive American-grown cotton to be the center of our supply chains, providing reliable markets for our producers and bolstering industries that depend on cotton,” said Hyde-Smith. “I introduced the Buying American Cotton Act to help get us there by incentivizing U.S. retailers to produce, purchase, and manufacture American cotton here at home. This legislation would help secure a resilient, self-reliant, and prosperous cotton industry for the future by reinforcing our supply chain – from farm to textile to market – and by reducing our reliance on cotton produced under forced labor practices and environmental destruction.”
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