House Agriculture Committee
Collin Peterson a modest favorite in early 2016 size-up
The ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson, rates as a modest favorite for re-election in 2016, says the political newsletter Sabato's Crystal Ball in an analysis issued 23 months before the election.
Conaway’s team of aides to take top House Ag jobs
Incoming chairman Mike Conaway said he will install three of his top aides as the key staff members of the House Agriculture Committee.
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.
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.
Heavy spending in re-election bid by food stamp critic
Some $10 million could be spent on the U.S. House race between Rep Steve Southerland and Democrat Gwen Graham in the Florida panhandle, says WTXL-TV in Tallahassee.
Food stamp critic Steve King heads for re-election in Iowa
House Agriculture subcommittee chairman Steve King leads by 12 points in a Loras College poll of 280 likely voters in the Fourth House District in northwestern Iowa.
Roberts says little about agriculture in Kansas Senate race
Sen Pat Roberts, potentially Agriculture Committee chairman if Republicans win control of the Senate, rarely mentions his record on agriculture - defender of crop insurance and author of the 1996 Freedom to Farm law - on the campaign trail.
First APH yield exclusion policies go to 2015 spring crops
Farmers will be able to buy crop insurance polices for crops planted in spring 2015 that allow them to get higher yield coverage by excluding catastrophic losses when they calculate average production, the government said.
“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.
A Kansas toss-up, an Iowa “safe” and a rule of thumb
"Sen Pat Roberts (R) of Kansas may be making a comeback after having been left for dead on the battlefield," says the political newsletter Sabato's Crystal Ball, which now lists the Senate race as a toss-up vs the previous "Leans Independent."
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.
Orman “small favorite” in Kansas, Benishek likely in Michigan
Independent Greg Orman is "at least a small favorite" to defeat third-term Sen Pat Roberts, a senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in Kansas, says the Sabato's Crystal Ball.
Electoral path clears for school lunch critic in House
House Agriculture Committee member Rodney Davis of Illinois, a critic of new school lunch rules, looks like a surer bet for a second term from central Illinois.
House Ag member Davis has comfortable lead, says GOP poll
Rep Rodney Davis, narrowly elected in 2022, leads his Democratic challenger, Ann Callis, 55-39 with 7 percent undecided in his central Illinois district, said Roll Call, based on a poll conducted for the Davis campaign by Public Opinion Strategies. A House Agriculture Committee member, Davis is a vocal critic of new rules that require schools to serve healthier meals. He says the food is unpopular with students and costly for schools. Davis is a Democratic target; the Democratic congressional committee is scheduled to begin TV advertisements in the race on Sept 30, says Roll Call. There has been little polling in the race and Davis is favored to win, said Election Projection.
Running on farm bill may help, opposing it doesn’t hurt
Rep Collin Peterson, the Democratic leader on the House Agriculture Committee, uses his legislative successes on the 2014 farm law - retention of sugar subsidies and creation of a new dairy subsidy program - as talking points for re-election, says Bloomberg. Peterson's district leans Republican and the GOP congressional committee is spending heavily on ads to defeat him. "Farming defines the towns that dot the region’s two-lane highways. Along with (sugar) beets, the district is the nation’s biggest producer of turkeys and the fourth-biggest of corn and soybeans," says Bloomberg.