Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 11/22/10

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) will become chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry during the next Congress, following Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) who was defeated in the midterm election.

Stabenow has served on the agriculture committees in the Michigan legislature, U.S. House of Representatives and currently the U.S. Senate. She was instrumental in achieving significant victories for Michigan in passage of the most recent farm bill, including the addition of a new fruit and vegetable title.
Stabenow will lead the committee through the next farm bill negotiations, which will be dominated by debate on how to achieve spending cuts.

User fees for poultry and meat processors have already been posed by the administration in its USDA budget proposals for 2011. The meat industry has opposed this idea.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as we begin writing a new farm bill that once again recognizes the importance of America’s agricultural economy and rural communities,” Stabenow said in a statement.

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