Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow is centering her reelection campaign on the farm bill, highlighting her efforts to pass the bipartisan legislation out of the Senate and committing to renewing the struggle to pass a new five-year bill in Congress’ lame duck session.

This summer, rural news was largely centered on the drought and Congress’ inability to pass a new five-year farm bill. While Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow was able to shepherd the Senate’s version of the farm bill out of committee and onto the Senate floor, the bill was stalled in the House of Representatives, where Speaker of the House John Boehner was reluctant to upset fiscal conservatives going into the 2012 election.

With Congress adjourned for the election, Stabenow, who is running for a third term, has put her service in the Senate Agriculture Committee at the center of her campaign. In addition, she has focused many of her attacks on Republican intransigency. In a recent address to the Van Buren County Farm Bureau, Stabenow stated, “In my judgment, there’s no excuse for [not passing a farm bill]. But we are where we are, and so we will go back after the election in lame duck and get this done.”

Stabenow is also hoping to use the campaign season to ratchet up pressure on the House to pass a new farm bill during the lame duck session. Many of her recent statements have focused on the damage that will be done to the farm sector in January if 1940s era permanent farm legislation is allowed to go back into effect.

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer