With the 2018 farm bill on the horizon, Senate leaders have re-jiggered membership of the Senate Agriculture Committee, adding Republican Deb Fischer of Nebraska and newly appointed Democrat Tina Smith of Minnesota to the panel. To maintain the GOP’s 11-10 control of the committee, Democrat Chris Van Hollen of Maryland left the panel after serving only a year.
Fischer and Smith represent two of the major corn-, soybean-, and wheat-producing states. Fischer replaced Luther Strange, who was defeated in the Republican primary in Alabama last year. The South has a powerful position on the committee, whose members include Mississippi’s Thad Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
A key issue in the farm bill is how to restore cotton, a southern crop, to the farm subsidy program available to grain and soybean farmers. In order to resolve a World Trade Organization ruling, the 2014 farm law converted cotton subsidies into a revenue insurance program. Growers say the new program is a flop. Dairy farmers have the same complaint about the so-called margin protection program that was also part of the 2014 law.
“For over 40 years, I’ve worked with agriculture and rural development organizations across the state of Nebraska. Agriculture is the backbone of Nebraska’s economy, and it’s a big part of my own life,” Fischer said in a statement. “This coming year is going to be critical as the 2014 farm bill expires and the committee works to write the next farm bill,” she added.
Smith, who worked for General Mills in the 1980s, has been lieutenant governor of Minnesota since 2014. She was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton to fill Al Franken’s vacated Senate seat in December. Debbie Stabenow, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, welcomed Smith in a tweet, saying “… looking forward to working with you.” Smith said in a tweet that she had just met with Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, “to talk about Minnesota ag priorities and to tell him that I’ll be a strong voice for our state’s farmers and ranchers.”
Fischer will occupy the committee seat vacated by former Sen. Strange, who had been appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy created when Jeff Sessions resigned to become attorney general. Strange has been succeeded by newly elected Democrat Doug Jones.