HYDE-SMITH ENCOURAGES MISS. FARMERS TO CONSIDER NEW USDA SEED COTTON PROGRAM

 

 

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today encouraged Mississippi farmers to take advantage of new risk-management protections for seed cotton producers under Title I of the farm bill.

 

Hyde-Smith, who serves on both the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, promoted the start of a four-month signup period for cotton producers to participate in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2018 crop year.  Enrollment ends Dec. 7, 2018.

 

“Congress agreed to extend ARC and PLC eligibility to cotton to help producers overcome low prices and other persistent market problems.  I encourage Mississippi cotton farmers to weigh their options and determine which risk management program will work best for them,” said Hyde-Smith, the former Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce.

 

Mississippi is one of the nation’s most productive cotton-growing states, producing 1.4 million bales in 2017.  The state is also a leading cottonseed producer.

 

Retired U.S. Senator Thad Cochran in February gained bipartisan support to make seed cotton a covered commodity under ARC and PLC, which put cotton farmers on equal footing with other major U.S. commodity producers.  The signup period is a result of that effort, which became law as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

 

Additional Farm Service Agency details regarding the open election are available here: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-room/news-releases/2018/nr_20180730_rel_0122

 

During Senate Agriculture Committee development of the 2018 farm bill, Hyde-Smith worked hard to ensure that the Bipartisan Budget Act provisions for cotton producers were maintained in the Senate-passed farm bill and reauthorized through 2023.  The Senate passed a budget-neutral, five-year farm bill in June.

 

Congressional leaders hope to begin negotiations soon to reconcile differences in the Senate- and House-passed versions of a new farm bill.