Senate Agriculture Committee
PepsiCo lobbyist is named staff director for Senate Ag panel
Senate Agriculture chairman Pat Roberts named Joel Leftwich, a lobbyist for PepsiCo, as the committee's staff director and selected one of his Senate aides, Wayne Stoskopf, as a committee staff member, said a committee statement.
For food and agriculture, a lengthy to-do list for Congress
Congress is to open its new, two-year session on Tuesday with a hefty list of food and agriculture policy issues already on the agenda for lawmakers. The "to do" list includes reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and federal child nutrition programs such as school lunch and WIC, proposals for federal pre-emption of states in labeling foods made with genetically modified organisms, attempts to block EPA from completing its...
House panel formally sets hearing on GMO labeling
The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday on labeling of GMO foods. The session, "Examining FDA's role in the regulation of genetically modified food ingredients," is expected to provide a...
Toledo mayor asks federal action to prevent algae blooms
The government should give priority to protecting water quality in Lake Erie's watershed including a standard on blooms of toxic algae, said Toledo Mayor Michael Collins, four months after explosive growth of algae shut down his city's water supply. "If we continue to delay, the harm may be irreparable," Collins said during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on voluntary work by farmers to control soil erosion and protect water purity.
Algae blooms in Lake Erie put spotlight on agricultural runoff
The algae bloom that shut down Toledo's drinking-water supply for two days this summer has put the spotlight on agricultural runoff, although farmland is not the only source of the pollutants that cause the explosive growth of the cyanobacteria, says...
EPA delays until 2015 the ethanol mandate for this year
With time running out to set the ethanol mandate for this year, EPA said it "is not in a position to finalize the 2014 RFS standards rule before the end of the year. Accordingly, we intend to take action on the 2014 standards rule in 2015 prior to or in conjunction with action on the 2015 standards rule." EPA proposed a relaxation in the 2014 mandate nearly a year ago, saying the gasoline market was nearly saturated with biofuels at the traditional blend rate of 10 percent, partly because fuel usage is lower than expected.
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 says “not productive…to open up the farm bill”
Kansas Senator Pat Roberts, who expects to chair the Agriculture Committee beginning in January, told National Journal, "It is not productive at all to open up the farm bill."
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.
Purdue forestry farm to carry name of former US senator
Purdue will re-name its 175-acre forestry farm in honor of long-time Indiana Sen Richard Lugar, the university announced. A former chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Foreign Relations committee, Lugar was senator for 36 years until...
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.
Roberts, Orman “haven’t closed the sale” in Kansas
"The race for the U.S. Senate seat from Kansas is about to get nastier," says the Kansas City Star in a story headlined, "With a week to go, U.S. Senate candidates in Kansas still haven't closed the sale."
Roberts rises in polls as Orman gets scrutiny
The latest poll from Kansas shows a dead-even race for the Senate. Business Insider says "there's a simple reason" for incumbent Pat Roberts' rebound from trailing independent Greg Orman - Orman "has finally been put under the microscope."
“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.
Roberts attended one-third of Ag panel meetings-Report
Third-term Sen Pat Roberts, potentially the next chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, attended only one-third of the committee's meetings since 2000, says the Topeka Capital-Journal.
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.
Senate Republicans renew bid to shift climate funds
Pointing to a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Republican staffers on the Senate Agriculture Committee proposed on Wednesday shifting more than $13 billion earmarked separately for climate mitigation into USDA land stewardship programs. Under Congress’ arcane budget rules, the transfer would result in a long-term increase of $1.8 billion a year for stewardship, they said, “subject only to congressional reauthorization.”