Hinds Today

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has urged her fellow Senators to move past partisan differences and work on drafting a new Farm Bill. In a speech delivered to the Senate, Hyde-Smith highlighted that the extension of the outdated 2018 Farm Bill is set to expire on September 30 and advocated for creating a new Farm Bill based on the comprehensive framework unveiled last month by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Ark.).

“The bottom line is this, Madam President—it’s time to move away from partisan disagreements and instead work on finding common ground,” Hyde-Smith stated. “It’s time to graduate from concepts and proposals and instead start advancing actual legislation. Simply put, it’s time for Congress to enact a new Farm Bill – one that our farmers, ranchers, and rural America have been asking for for quite some time.”

For over two years, Hyde-Smith has participated in committee hearings on Farm Bill issues and sought input from Mississippi producers through listening sessions. In her remarks, she reviewed the priorities that Mississippi farmers, ranchers, and rural communities want in new agricultural and rural development policies—all of which are included in the Boozman framework.

“The Farm Bill framework released by our Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member would achieve all of these things, and in a bipartisan, fiscally-responsible manner,” Hyde-Smith said. “Times are changing. New challenges and threats to rural America emerge every day. This is why Congress revisits this important, multi-year legislation – to keep what’s working, fix what’s not, and eliminate what’s no longer necessary.”

Hyde-Smith commended Senator Boozman for presenting a framework that addresses the needs of farmers, ranchers, stakeholders, and taxpayers across the country.

“It is our responsibility in Congress to listen to those who know best about what they need to make a living so they can continue to feed our nation and the world,” she added.

Hyde-Smith referenced testimony from a producer during a Subcommittee on Commodities hearing last year who described the current farm safety net as being “two inches above the concrete.” She emphasized that this level of support is insufficient given today’s volatile farm economy marked by historic inflation, record-high input costs, natural disasters, and geopolitical tensions disrupting markets.

“I commend the House Agriculture Committee for advancing a strong, common-sense Farm Bill proposal out of committee,” she said. “But the bottom line is this: it’s time to move away from partisan disagreements and instead work on finding common ground.”

In closing her remarks, Hyde-Smith reiterated her call for Congress to advance actual legislation promptly.

“Simply put,” she concluded, “it’s time for Congress to enact a new Farm Bill – one that our farmers, ranchers, and rural America have been asking for for quite some time.”

Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor.