Sen. Amy Klobuchar named top Democrat on Senate farm committee

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee in the next Congress, after being named to the post by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday.

Klobuchar becomes ranking-member on the powerful committee, which will oversee the next farm bill, a day after Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democratic counterpart, became ranking member for the House Agriculture Committee.

Klobuchar won her fourth term in the U.S. Senate this year. With the retirement of current Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, Klobuchar had largely been expected to ascend to her party’s top spot on the committee.

“When I first came to the Senate, my number one request was to be on the Agriculture Committee,” Klobuchar said, in a statement. “From working across the aisle to strengthen our defenses against animal disease outbreaks to bolstering our ability to produce home-grown fuel and supporting conservation efforts, the work of the Agriculture Committee touches every aspect of our lives.”

Republicans won the U.S. Senate in November’s elections, and Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas will chair the committee for the GOP. But the committee, as in the House, will operate within a closely divided chamber where the minority party will maintain limited but important leverage over the steering of farm policy, environmental programs and nutrition funding.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers were advancing a proposal to extend the current farm bill through March, with an additional $10 billion in aid for farmers and ranchers.