Donald Trump

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who served two terms as governor of Iowa, says Democrats can make inroads in traditionally Republican rural America this fall due to misgivings among voters about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Appearing on "The Axe Files,"a podcast produced by CNN and the University of Chicago, Vilsack said Democrats have a "unique opportunity" but have to act on it to benefit.

After naming GOP funder Charles Herbster to be chair of his Agricultural and Rural Ag Committee, Trump has nominated Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller to be co-chair, says Mother Jones—and the press are waiting for the antics to begin.

The Obama administration “took an important procedural step toward putting the Trans-Pacific Partnership before Congress” by outlining the legislation that would align U.S. law with the 12-nation free-trade agreement, said Agri-Pulse.

The "Reason for Reform" campaign launched by proponents of comprehensive immigration reform is trying to persuade Republican lawmakers to support an overhaul in 2017 with the argument that the U.S. economy would benefit, says Politico. The campaign, backed by a group led by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, underscores that "reform — should it occur next year — will be a fiercely contested legislative fight."

The Clinton campaign loads up on Domino’s and Walmart groceries, while Trump staffers hit up Trump Grill and McDonald's, says Eater. The site searched spending records from the Federal Elections Commission to find out how each presidential hopeful was feeding their staff.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump aims for a large voter turnout in rural areas as a key to winning the Nov. 8 election and will attack federal regulation, a popular target in farm country, says Agri-Pulse. Trump scored well in rural America, a traditionally conservative and Republican-leaning area, during primary elections, according to the Daily Yonder.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has vaulted into the top tier of Democrats under consideration by the Hillary Clinton campaign for nomination as vice president, said Politico. The Hagstrom Report, meanwhile, cited a source close to the Clinton campaign as saying Vilsack was under serious consideration.

irst-term Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, an Agriculture Committee member, says she wants to focus on her home state rather than running for vice president with Republican businessman Donald Trump, reports Politico.

If businessman Donald Trump wins the presidency, Republicans would feel obliged to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, said House Agriculture Committee chairman Michael Conaway. In a Roll Call video, Conaway, who volunteered in May to advise Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, on agricultural policy, says TPP already faces an uphill struggle for passage, so with Trump's opposition "it would be difficult to get that done."

The proposal by businessman Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, "to deport undocumented immigrants and wall off the southern U.S. border has created an unexpected bastion of resistance: Dairy farmers," says Bloomberg. "Farmers say they can't get enough relatives or local workers, even with pay starting at $11 an hour or more."

House Speaker Paul Ryan is "fairly hands-on when it comes to his kids' diet," says Roll Call, in excerpting a People magazine interview with the Wisconsin Republican and 2012 vice-presidential nominee.

Businessman Donald Trump says he will look to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad for advice on ethanol, a favorite fuel in farm country but under perennial attack as a boondoggle, reported the Des Moines Register. Branstad "is a tremendous guy and a friend of mine, and we're going to talk about it," Trump said at a news conference in North Dakota ahead of a speech on energy policy.

Three members of the Senate Agriculture Committee — Joni Ernst of Iowa, David Perdue of Georgia and John Thune of South Dakota — are on the long list of potential running mates for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. "Perhaps the buzziest" is Ernst, elected to the Senate in 2014, says political website Sabato's Crystal Ball.

House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway endorsed Donald Trump for president, reports the website yourbasin.com in Conaway's district in Texas. The website quoted Conaway as saying, "As chairman of the House agricultural committee I feel like I have a duty to try and work with Mr. Trump in developing his agricultural policy which so far as not been particularly vetted in any of the debates."

Democrat Michael Bennet, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, won the Senate race in Colorado in 2010 with a plurality of 48 percent in a seven-way race. Handicappers say Colorado will be one of the most competitive states this year yet Bennet's prospects are brightening - and could improve markedly due to Republican infighting.

When a poll put Donald Trump in second place in Iowa, biotech corn was fingered as the culprit on social media before the Trump campaign apologized, says Agri-Pulse. The dustup began when Trump's Twitter feed reposted a tweet that originated with a Nevada businessman, who noted that surgeon Ben Carson was leading Trump in Iowa, and then added: "Too much #Monsanto in the #corn creates issues in the brain?"