by Kody Bessent, CEO, Plains Cotton Growers

Chris Gardner sits in a subway station bathroom with his son sleeping on his lap. It’s 2 a.m., and someone is trying to open the door. Tears roll down his face as he presses his foot to the door to keep it from opening. This wasn’t how he was supposed to end up. Homeless. Desperate. Trying to make a better life for his child. All the odds stacked against him. All his money is tied up in a dead-end business venture. All his efforts as an unpaid intern for a stock brokerage firm seem hopeless.

If you’ve watched the movie based on Chris’ life, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” you know that he keeps trying, keeps pursuing a better life, and ends up on the other side as a multi-million-dollar business owner. If you have not seen the movie, I encourage you to pursue it, no pun intended.

The circumstances the agriculture industry is currently under may make some of us feel as hopeless as Chris did. We may not be in as dire of a situation as some individuals, but our farm economy is currently bleak. Our policy situation has been in suspension for over a year, and right now the American farm legacy is under serious threat. If producers can’t secure operating loans for the upcoming year, if commodity prices remain this low while input costs remain at record-level highs, and if profitability doesn’t exist, the farming way of life will shift dramatically or cease to exist.

That train of thought is constantly on repeat in producers’ minds. As business owners who must continually think of the upcoming year, the future is a scary place for farmers right now.

However, it’s situations like this where the cotton industry steps in. This multi-faceted approach includes organizations like PCCA, which are effective on the marketing front and work for you to ensure your profitability year over year. Moreover, your producer advocacy organizations like Plains Cotton Growers, the National Cotton Council, and others were formed to protect and promote your interests at the federal and state legislative level — and like the rest of the cotton industry, we’re good at what we do.

In the Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner gets an interview with a stock brokerage firm when he quickly solves a Rubik’s Cube in the car

with one of the firm’s primary partners. It’s our job as industry representatives to solve the puzzle to get in the door with Congress and meet industry needs across the board, be it policy, marketing, finance, etc.

During the most recent multi-commodity D.C. fly-in that took place in September, led by the National Cotton Council, cotton did just that. We partnered with other commodity groups and stressed the need for assistance for our producers and downstream segments, both in the form of a new Farm Bill by the end of 2024 and economic assistance to bridge the gap between now and 2026 so everyone can continue to operate.

While we are advocating for a new and robust 2024 Farm Bill, such as the bill passed by the House Agriculture Committee, several steps must occur before this happens. We’re optimistic that Congress will come together and pass strong farm policy for farmers. We’re also encouraged by action taken on the FARM Act, which is vital to protecting the agriculture industry and its longevity.

The Farmers Assistance Revenue Mitigation Act of 2024, or FARM Act, was introduced by Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, on October 25, 2024. The bill seeks to provide relief to producers who have endured sequential years of low prices, when compared to input costs, impacting profitability and the overall financial health of the agriculture economy.

This should give us all hope in times of serious doubt. Your industry groups and associations are looking out for you, and Congress is functioning despite its misnomers.

We will make it to the other side just as Chris Garner did, as long as we never stop pursuing the protection of the agricultural industry – which is the backbone of this country. It’s an honor to work alongside PCCA and others to protect and enhance the livelihoods of cotton producers.