Hipp named to national advisory council to help map the future of agriculture

A Chickasaw agricultural law expert has been named to a national advisory council tasked with planning for the future of agriculture.

Janie Simms Hipp, an attorney who holds both a law degree and a Master of Laws degree, was recently selected to serve on the Strategic Advisory Council (SAC) for the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST).

Headquartered in Ames, Iowa, CAST is a nonprofit organization established in 1972 with a mission to provide credible, unbiased, science-based information about food and agriculture to policymakers, the media and the public.

The SAC was created with the goal of charting pathways for CAST to evolve into the National Academy of Agriculture. The council is composed of 18 distinguished leaders from academia, industry, government and nonprofit organizations.

Hipp, a Chickasaw citizen who resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a recognized expert in agricultural law and in the intersection of agricultural law and First American law. She has dedicated her nearly 40-year career to protecting food security and food sovereignty through her work.

The only First American selected to serve on SAC, Hipp said she is committed to ensuring the other council members understand First American perspectives. She plans to emphasize the vital role First Americans have played in agriculture historically and will continue to play in the future as the group works to create a vision for the field.

Hipp said the time is right to chart a path to establishing a National Academy of Agriculture as the future of agricultural science and technology is rapidly evolving, and agricultural law and policy must evolve to meet the rapid developments within the sector.

“I am honored and blessed to be asked to be a part of this groundbreaking effort, and I hope to contribute as much insight as I can,” Hipp said.

“What we write in our laws — be they federal, state, local or tribal — impacts whether we cradle agriculture or whether we just let it flounder. You can’t ever ignore the legal framework which underpins agriculture and food,” she said.

Chris Boomsma, chief executive officer of CAST, said Hipp’s unique perspective makes her an asset to the advisory council.

“She is an outside-the-box thinker, but a strategic thinker [with] deep experience, a great work history and just a fabulous person all around.”

Boomsma said the need for a National Academy of Agriculture exists now because of factors including geopolitical competition, rapid technological advancements, changing consumer expectations, a changing workforce and public research funding trends, among others.

“I think there’s become a fundamental realization that agriculture, as it goes through a period of transition and major change, needs an organization to help steer and guide it to its future,” he said.

CAST membership is composed of both organizations and individuals from across the spectrum of agriculture, and its mission is supported through the work of hundreds of volunteers representing scientific societies, companies, nonprofits and universities, according to Boomsma. It provides nonpartisan publication of task force reports, commentaries, special publications and issues papers written by volunteer experts, including economists, legal experts and scientists from many disciplines.

“We are a membership-driven organization. We cross the animal, food and plant spaces. There is really no other organization working in the nonprofit science space for agriculture that crosses all of that and that uniquely positions us for the future role of a National Academy,” Boomsma said.

“We believe visionary bold leadership is needed and thus we formed a strategic advisory council to chart our course for becoming a National Academy of Agriculture.”

The SAC will regularly meet in the next several months and will provide recommendations to the CAST board of directors by mid-2026.

“CAST is approaching this work with speed, rigor and a collaborative spirit,” Boomsma said. “The organization’s goal is to thoroughly understand what steps are required to effectively serve the U.S. as the National Academy of Agriculture and what partners and resources are needed to make that happen.”

About Janie Simms Hipp

Hipp was the first enrolled tribal citizen to serve as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She is also one of only four women to occupy that position since 1905.

Hipp was the founding CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund, the largest philanthropic institution focused on First American agriculture; founding director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative; and a national program leader at the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture. She also served as the senior adviser for tribal relations to USDA Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack and is the founding director of the USDA Office of Tribal Relations. Hipp currently serves as the chief executive officer of the Native Agriculture Financial Services.

Hipp was named Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year 2025 and inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2024.