The Iowa caucuses, often the high point for attention to agriculture, passed with little discussion of food or farm policy. Yet, “there are a number of signals that farm policy could continue to be a factor in voters’ decisions all the way to the general election, says National Journal.
Texas Sen Ted Cruz’s victory in the Republican caucuses, despite opposition by the ethanol industry, excited foes of biofuels. “But it will still be hard to convince Congress to repeal the mandate, which is supposed to be in place through 2022,” writes Jerry Hagstrom. “Ethanol could still come back to be an issue in the general election in Iowa and a few other Midwestern states.” In 2008, Barack Obama got an unusually large share of the rural vote for a Democratic candidate in part because the Republican nominee John McCain opposed ethanol and farm bills.
In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton has shown a defter touch in dealing with farm issues than Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, says National Journal. Two initiatives are being promoted to put presidential hopefuls on the record on food and agriculture issues; one by the AGree farm policy project and the other by the “Future of Food” group of food advocates.
“Oddly, no one seems to be asking the candidates to take positions on what may be the hottest agricultural issue of the year: whether genetically modified foods should be labeled,” says National Journal.