Brookhaven’s state senator has qualified to run for the officeof Mississippi’s top agriculture executive.

District 39 Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Brookhaven, on Fridayannounced her candidacy for the office of the Commissioner ofAgriculture and Commerce. That seat is up for grabs on the Novemberballot after current commissioner Lester Spell decided he would notseek another term.

Hyde-Smith, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, saidseeking the statewide office was, for her, a “logical nextstep.”

“I realize how important agriculture is in Mississippi. It’sMississippi’s largest industry,” she said. “This job is extremelyimportant, extremely essential to our state.”

Qualifying for agriculture commissioner means Hyde-Smith willnot return to the Senate in 2012, leaving District 39 – whichserves all of Lawrence and Lincoln counties, and some of SimpsonCounty – up for grabs.

She will run against Max Phillips of Taylorsville and DannieReed of Ackerman in the Republican primary on August 2. NoDemocrats have qualified for the office.

“It’s very hard to not seek re-election to this Senate seat,where I have been so honored to serve for the past 12 years,”Hyde-Smith said. “I have been very happy here. I hope myconstituents feel I have represented them to the very best of myability.”

Hyde-Smith said she favors less government intrusion and vowedto protect property and farming rights.

“I want to make sure our states’ farmers and ranchers – thebackbone of our country – can continue to provide safe food andfiber at the cheapest possible prices to the citizens ofMississippi while maintaining the utmost in consumer confidence,”she said in a press release.

Part of her duties as agriculture commissioner would be to shinea light on the “superior products that we are so capable ofproducing” in Mississippi, she said.

Hyde-Smith is a graduate of the University of SouthernMississippi and recipient of Farm Bureau’s Ambassador of the YearAward. She is a member of the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association,Lincoln County Cattlemen’s Association, Lincoln County ForestryAssociation, National Rifle Association, American LegislativeExchange Council and serves as the National Vice Chairman forAgriculture of the National Council of State Legislators.

Hyde-Smith and her husband, Mike, are the fourth generation oftheir family to raise cattle, farm and operate a cattle marketauction near Brookhaven. Their daughter, Anna-Michael, and hercousins, are the fifth generation to be raised in the business.

“I know what it means to run an agricultural business,”Hyde-Smith said. “This is a very exciting, yet challenging time tobe in agriculture.”