Collin Peterson
Conaway selected as next House Agriculture chairman
House Republican leaders tapped Texas Rep Mike Conaway to become House Agriculture Committee chairman in January, succeeding Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, who has served the six-year maximum allowed by Republican rules. Conaway is a conservative from central Texas and currently is chairman of the House Ethics Committee. House Republicans are expected to meet today to ratify the choice of Conaway and 16 other men as their committee leaders.
Another Ag panelist joins Senate leadership
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, an Agriculture Committee, member will be part of Democratic leadership in the next session. She was elected to chair the Democratic Steering and Outreach committee.
Roberts wins, may be first to chair House, Senate ag panels
Kansas Sen Pat Roberts easily won his fourth term in the Senate, beating independent Greg Orman by 9 points. Roberts says he expects to be Agriculture Committee chairman when Republicans take control of the Senate in January. He would be the first person to chair the both the House and Senate Agriculture committees.
A dozen elections with food and agriculture policy impact
A dozen elections today may influence food and agriculture policy nationally, They range from the Kansas race that could determine the next chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee to referendums on soda taxes and GMO labeling.
Ernst leads in Iowa for Senate, Kansas is neck-and-neck race
Republican Joni Ernst led Democrat Bruce Braley by 7 points, 51-44, in the latest Iowa Poll of the Des Moines Register. It was Ernst's largest lead in any poll in a month.
“I’ll be chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee”
Kansas Sen Pat Roberts, during a campaign stop at a livestock auction barn, told listeners, “When we get a Republican majority, I’ll be chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and we are gonna put the livestock producer first."
Reid aces food policy scorecard, Boehner scores a zero
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and 70 other members of Congress, mostly Democrats, got perfect grades from advocacy group Food Policy Action for their votes on food and agriculture issues over the past two years.
Food and agriculture races to watch on Nov 4
From soda taxes in California to neck-and-neck Senate races in the heartland, an abundance of races of import for U.S. food and agriculture policy will be decided in the Nov 4 elections.
GOP makes a run at House Ag minority leader Peterson
Minnesota Republicans say they have the best chance in years of defeating 12-term incumbent Collin Peterson, the Democrat leader on the House Agriculture Committee.
Farm leaders hopeful EPA will relent on biofuels
Sen Debbie Stabenow and Rep Collin Peterson told NAAJ they were optimistic the administration will set a higher mandate for biofuels consumption this year than it initially proposed.
House Ag leaders unveil CFTC reauthorization bill
Four House Agriculture Committee leaders filed a bill to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A mark up is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET. The meeting will be Webcast.
Heat-and-eat “will not go away,” says House chairman
States are following the law in averting cuts in food stamp benefits tied to utility costs, said Rep Jim McGovern of Massachusetts during a lively moment in a House Agriculture Committee hearing.
Not looking to run USDA, says Peterson
House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson threw cold water Thursday on suggestions that he should be agriculture secretary in the Biden administration. "There's plenty of people out there that want the job," he told reporters, adding that he was "not looking for a full-time, four-year job" after 30 years in Congress.