HYDE-SMITH WELCOMES FARM AID PLAN OFFERING BRIDGE PAYMENTS TO HARD-HIT PRODUCERS
Miss. Senator Calls on Congress to Act on Long-Term Solutions to Improve Ag Sector
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today welcomed a farm aid package she championed to help farmers in Mississippi and across the country overcome economic headwinds that threaten their futures.
Hyde-Smith, as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, has been a strong advocate for providing “bridge payments” to farmers to help them survive until farm safety net improvements made in the Working Families Tax Cut Act (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) go into effect next year. President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Monday announced a $12 billion Farm Bridge Assistance Program, $11 billion of which is for row crop commodities like soybeans, rice, and cotton.
“Too many of our farmers are operating on the brink of bankruptcy. Many will not be able to satisfy their current debt and be able to secure financing for next year’s crop without a strong form of federal bridge support to get them to next year. So, this aid package could not come soon enough,” Hyde-Smith said.
“The Trump administration deserves credit for moving swiftly and decisively to use the resources Congress provided in the deal to end the government shutdown to make these resources available to combat what amounts to an economic disaster for our ag sector,” the Senator added. “I encourage producers in Mississippi and their lenders to look at the details of these bridge payments to determine what’s best for their continued operation.”
Hyde-Smith said Congress should still be working on more long-term solutions to help the American agricultural sector complete globally while managing other economic headwinds like inflation and high input costs.
“We still have important work ahead of us, and there are a lot of promising ideas for strengthening the ag sector over the long haul. I believe Congress can work on a package that includes innovative measures, like my Buying American Cotton Act, that can put our farmers on more solid footing for the future,” Hyde-Smith said.
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