Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 6/28/19

The first two debates that marked the real start of the battle for the White House ended with only the briefest mentions of agriculture policy. Moderators on the first night of debates didn't ask a single question about rural America or agriculture. On Thursday night, one candidate was asked about how farmers hurt by climate change can be helped. Still, a handful of candidates managed to squeeze in mentions of ag.

Blocking big deals: On Wednesday night, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), when discussing economic problems caused by rapid consolidation, touted his legislation that would halt mergers of agriculture companies until Congress can update antitrust laws. "One of the most aggressive bills in the Senate to deal with corporate consolidation is mine about corporate consolidation in the ag sector," he said.

Rewarding farmers for carbon capture: Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke said Wednesday that farmers need to be part of the solution to combating climate change. "We're going to free ourselves from a dependence on fossil fuels, and we're going to put farmers and ranchers in the driver's seat, renewable and sustainable agriculture, to make sure that we capture more carbon out of the air and keep more of it in the soil, paying farmers for the environmental services that they want to provide."

On Thursday night, Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind., said he supports a carbon tax and dividend, as well as soil carbon sequestration. "Here's what very few people talk about," he said. "First of all, rural America can be part of the solution instead of being told they're part of the problem. With the right kind of soil management and other kinds of investments, rural America can be a huge part of how we get this done."