Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/21/19

Today's committee hearing marks a rare case of agriculture lawmakers wading into climate change at large. It's a sensitive issue for the industry; farmers and ranchers are among those most affected by extreme weather, but many producers are also skeptical of the movement to combat climate change.

Recent natural disasters have hit the industry hard, including hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and floods that have caused billions of dollars in damage to farmland, livestock, crops and infrastructure from California to the Midwest and Southeast. But a disaster relief package to address those losses has been stalled for months amid partisan disputes (though negotiators this week appear closer to a resolution).

The difficulty of passing disaster aid, an area with bipartisan support, doesn't bode well for any potential action on climate change, but lawmakers have found narrow areas of agreement. Senate Ag ranking member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has pointed to the new farm bill as the "most progressive and climate-smart" policy Congress has passed in years, citing soil health initiatives and conservation innovation grants.

"We built on practices that are being done now that I believe need to be scaled up," Stabenow said at a POLITICO event in March.
Across the Capitol, House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) has resisted the progressive push for dramatic action on climate change, reflecting the industry's aversion to change and its wariness of the climate movement.

"I think a lot of them would like us to quit farming," Peterson told POLITICO in January.

The climate debate has frustrated some farmers and rancherswho argue they're disproportionately a target of environmental advocates. For example, the early rollout of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal resolution included a fact sheet, accidentally posted by the New York Democrat's office, that referenced the need to eliminate "farting cows" — a clear threat in the eyes of many livestock producers.

The Green New Deal calls for "working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers ... to remove pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is technologically feasible."

Allies of Ocasio-Cortez later reached out to ag experts for input, a sign that progressives might try to engage rural interests in the climate conversation. One of those experts was Frank Mitloehner, a University of California, Davis, scientist with expertise on agricultural emissions, and one of the witnesses at today's hearing.

Also appearing today: Tom Vilsack, former USDA secretary and now president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. The hearing starts at 9:30 a.m.