As a result of November's elections, new leadership with be at the helm when the House and Senate Committees that oversee agriculture convene in January, according to the Wildlife Management Institute.

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) will be taking over as Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Senator Stabenow replaces Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) who was defeated in her bid to return to the Senate. Stabenow has served on the Committee since 2000 and has a history of supporting small farmers and growers of specialty crops.

Colin Peterson (D-MN), who chaired the House Agriculture Committee during the current session, was re-elected but will be stepping down due to Republicans gaining a majority in the House during the recent elections. The majority party designates chairs for each of the committees. Frank Lucas (R-OK) is his likely successor. Lucas has a record of advocacy for agricultural safety net programs and has been a strong opponent of subsidy reform.

One of the first shifts in policy as a result of these changes in leadership likely will be the timing of development of the next Farm Bill. Prior to the November elections, Representative Peterson had indicated that, if he retained his chairmanship, he intended to complete the next Farm Bill during 2011. Representative Lucas has indicated that he favors using 2011 to ramp up oversight of U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency programs, and has targeted late-summer 2012 to complete the next Farm Bill.

Regardless of timing or the Committee Chair's favorite programs, the next Farm Bill will almost certainly be drafted with fewer resources allocated to carry it out. The conservation community will need to be prepared for a long and difficult struggle to maintain natural resource programs at desirable levels in the new bill. (pmr)