Hallie Shoffner on Trump’s Regenerative Agriculture Executive Order and Proposed $11 Billion Farm Aid Fund: “Better Late Than Never — But Tom Cotton Is Nowhere to Be Found”

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Hallie Shoffner, a sixth-generation Arkansas row crop farmer and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, today responded to President Trump’s Executive Order advancing regenerative agriculture and the administration’s request for additional farm aid, saying the action is a step in the right direction but warning that without deeper reform, Washington will once again send taxpayer dollars through farmers and straight to the corporations squeezing them — while ignoring a full-fledged farm economy in crisis. In response, Shoffner is releasing the following statement:

“President Trump deserves credit for signing this Executive Order. Soil health, regional food systems, specialty crops, and farm resilience are exactly the kinds of investments Arkansas farmers have needed for years. Many of us have already been doing this work with little to no help from Washington. And more farmers would transition to regenerative agriculture if the system were not rigged against them and stacked in favor of Big Ag.

“Every time Washington writes an emergency check, that money lands in a farm bank account for about 24 hours before it flows right back out to seed companies, fertilizer conglomerates, chemical suppliers, equipment dealers, banks, and crop insurance companies. That is not farm aid. That is taxpayer money being laundered through family farms on its way to corporate balance sheets.

“If the proposed $11 billion in farm assistance moves through the same broken system, Washington will have written one of the biggest corporate bailouts in agricultural history and called it a rescue for farmers. As we say in Arkansas, that dog won’t hunt.

“Real farm aid should help farmers stay on their land, lower their input costs, rebuild their soil, reach new markets, and break free from the commodity trap. That means investing in regional food systems, local processing, domestic markets, regenerative transition support, and a real safety net that gives farmers the freedom to farm differently without risking everything they own.

“Tom Cotton claims to have the ear of the President, but he has been absent on this issue even as Arkansas led the nation in farm bankruptcies in 2025. In fact, one in four Chapter 12 bankruptcies in the South were filed right here in our state. This is a farm economy in collapse, and Tom Cotton is nowhere to be found.

“Arkansas farmers do not need another politician pretending a bailout is a farm policy. They need leaders with the courage to take on the system that is bankrupting them.”

Background

• Arkansas cash crop receipts are projected to fall by roughly $626 million in 2026.
• Arkansas led the nation in Chapter 12 farm bankruptcy filings in 2025.
• One in four Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies in the southern region were filed in Arkansas.
• For the first time in 25 years, Arkansas did not have a single workable row crop budget under current price and cost conditions.

Hallie Shoffner is a sixth-generation row crop farmer from Newport, Arkansas, former operator of Shoffner Farms, and founder of Delta Harvest. She is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Senator Tom Cotton.