Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

A long-time leader in agriculture policy says rural America is going to need more Democrats in the future. Mary Kay Thatcher of Syngenta, who was a long-time policy expert at the American Farm Bureau Federation, says, “we don’t have very many democrats in the rural areas.” Only nine Democrats, prior to this election, held rural seats in the House. Thatcher made her comments to the Adams on Agriculture radio show Wednesday morning. She says, “We should be thankful we are not writing a farm bill this year.” There will be new leadership in three of the top four Congressional positions for agriculture. With the defeat of House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, Thatcher says of the new leadership, “They probably just can’t be as effective right away.” Thatcher says agriculture needs a bipartisan representation, adding, “we’ve always been bipartisan, we need to be bipartisan, and we need Democrats and Republicans both that are willing to go to leadership and say this is important.”