JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Agriculture is Mississippi’s largest industry and those farmers are raising a red flag to say they’re struggling to make a profit.
Tripp Hayes is a corn, cotton, and soybean farmer and currently serving as President of the Delta Council.
“The forecast for 2025 continues to be as bleak as 2024,” told the Senate Agriculture Committee.
It’s not the amount of what’s being produced. One expert from Mississippi State University explains it’s instead what farmers are, or aren’t, getting in return.
“We’re in a situation also where the crops that we grow in Mississippi have all dropped at the same time,” described Dr. Keith Coble, Vice President of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University. “So, there is not that one crop that’s kind of the saving grace out there. Corn, soybeans, rice, and cotton have all declined and are really a challenge right now for our producers.”
Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann hopes to gain more understanding about what’s happening to the state’s largest industry.
“When I started speaking to bankers late this fall, they started informing me that, yes, we’re not going to fund our farmers this year,” Hosemann noted. “So, that put me in shock really.”
There was a brief reference during the hearing to some bills that would give legal cover to farmers needing to access pesticide tools for their crops. But they also asked for consideration as lawmakers look at broader issues.
“We’ve got to watch bills that come through the legislature that would add any more expenses to the farmers’ bottom line,” said Mike McCormick, President of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation.
“As the state looks to change its tax policies, we ask that the legislature ensure that agriculture is not the victim of unintended consequences, or that the tax burden gets shifted to the goods and services that power our industry,” added Hayes.
The committee plans for at least one other hearing on what the industry may look like in the future and how they can best be supported.
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