Much Needed Help to Offset Losses 

Right before Christmas, the U.S. Congress acted at the last minute to avoid a government shutdown, and also approved a one-time, $10-billion appropriation for direct payments to agricultural producers to compensate for major crop losses. It was a huge Christmas gift to farmers and the communities that rely heavily on the farm economy.

In early December, the USDA Economic Research Service estimated crop losses nationally exceeded $31 billion from all major commodities for 2024, including cotton, soybeans, corn, rice and peanuts. Mississippi losses were estimated to average $145 per acre on more than 3.62 million acres, amounting to at least $525.8 million in losses.

Prior to passage of the bill, ag leaders were sounding the alarm about the impact of higher input prices combined with lower prices for commodities potentially putting some farmers out of business. Frank Howell, Executive Director of the Delta Council, said producers knew early in 2024 that it would be tough sledding.

“But no one knew how quickly those balance sheets would erode,” says Howell. “Mississippi was the first to sound the alarm because we harvested crops the earliest. By August, we knew we were in a bad storm. When I went to events in the Midwest in the summer of 2024, people said we were crazy. I told them to just wait. They called up when they started harvesting in October and were very alarmed. We wound up getting disaster assistance passed by Congress, which was good but maybe a little short of what we would have hoped for.”  

Delta Council President Tripp Hayes, a farmer in Coahoma County, says the financial problems were a two-prong issue:  There was rampant inflation on all of the inputs including equipment combined with a deterioration in commodity prices. 

“This thing started with the 2023 crop,” says Hayes. “There were a lot of folks who just squeaked by in 2023 and then we had a continued rise in the inputs as well as a massive pullback in commodity prices in 2024.”

Hayes says that when they planted cotton in 2024, it was bringing eighty-three to eighty-five cents per pound. In January of this year, it was sixty-eight cents per pound. Hayes said eighty-five cents per pound isn’t a real money-making price, but closer to what is needed.

Ag lenders were a critical part of convincing Congress to act.

“My hat is off to the financial community,” says Hayes. “The bankers were raising the flag as much as we were.” 

Hayes says the ag community is very fortunate to have such good representation in Congress. 

Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation President Mike McCormick said they greatly appreciate members of Congress who rolled up their sleeves to ensure farmers can continue to deliver the safest, most affordable and abundant food supply in the world. 

“Special thanks go to U.S. Congressman Trent Kelly for his introduction of the F.A.R.M. Act, the framework in this important funding bill, as well as U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in working with her colleagues in the Senate to drive this effort forward.”

Hyde-Smith serves in a key position to help Mississippi, whose top economic generator is agriculture. She is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. 

In the months leading up to passage of the agriculture disaster funding agreement, Hyde-Smith worked with incoming Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.), incoming Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), and others to demand Congress act to approve ad hoc assistance to avoid an imminent economic disaster in rural America.

Hyde-Smith says the final approval of the aid came after difficult negotiations to finalize a funding agreement to avoid a government shutdown.

“The bottom line is that Congress is finally doing the right thing for America’s farmers and rural Americans,” she says. “I expect this ad hoc market loss assistance will make a difference for farmers in Mississippi and elsewhere who would otherwise not be able to plant again next year. This assistance should serve as a lifeline while, with some determination and focus, we can finally enact a new farm bill that includes updated safety net programs for our farmers. I look forward to working with incoming Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to ensure swift implementation of the disaster aid, because time is of the essence.”

There was also natural disaster relief in the legislation for farmers harmed by natural disasters in 2023 and 2024.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture and FEMA have certified that Mississippi experienced multiple types of natural disasters in this time period, including freezes, tornadoes, severe storms, flooding, high winds and drought.

Natural disaster funding in the bill includes $357 million for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program, $828 million for the Emergency Conservation Program, and $920 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.  

The next priority is passage of a long-overdue new farm bill. 

“On the farm side, those utilizing farm bill programs value risk management tools that offer certainty and predictability,” says Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation Federal Affairs Coordinator Justin Ferguson. “Tools like crop insurance products, marketing loans and commodity programs help producers manage through tough times in order to be able to pass the family farm on to the next generation. Families are able to put dinner on the table thanks to nutrition assistance programs.”

Ferguson says voluntary, market-based incentives in conservation programs help provide producers with the tools and assistance needed to implement soil and water improvements. And rural communities have access to tools like broadband grants and new business loans authorized by the farm bill to help enhance economic development and attract growth.

“Just as agriculture changes and adapts to meet the needs of the time, the farm bill is called upon to do the same to serve the needs of its constituents,” Ferguson says. “Every five years or so, Congress passes a new farm bill to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world and ensure that critical programs continue to work for farmers and ranchers, families on a budget, and rural communities working to stay competitive.”

For more information, visit https://msfb.org/understanding-the-farm-bill-what-is-the-farm-bill-and-why-does-it-matter/.