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Changes coming in Ag Committee leadership
Three of the four leadership positions in the House and Senate Ag Committees will have new faces next year.
Syngenta’s Mary Kay Thatcher says she’s not worried, but she is glad they’ll have time to grow into those positions. “When you think about the four biggies in agriculture, Debbie Stabenow is left,” she says. “And then you’re going to have three new people. That’s not to say those folks coming in aren’t going to be very good Chairman or Ranking Members, but I’m thankful we’re not doing a 2021 Farm Bill, because I’d like those new people to get their feet wet, first.”
The election defeat of House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson has some farm groups concerned the importance ag policy will be diminished, especially since he’s had House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ear. But, Thatcher says Pelosi has not stood in the way of important ag policy. “One of the things we hear often in Rural American is ‘oh man, Nancy Pelosi’,” she says. “But when you think about it, she’s voted for every farm bill, she supports crop insurance, she’s voted for disaster bills. She has never been with HSUS on livestock issues, always with agriculture, and most recently, she got USMCA through the House.”
Thatcher made her remarks during Syngenta’s Media Summit.
AUDIO: Mary Kay Thatcher, Syngenta
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