Fargo, ND (AgNews890.com) – House Democrats elected Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) Tuesday as their top member on the House Agriculture Committee. Craig  defeated Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), who has been on Capitol Hill for two decades. The secret vote happened in the capital basement. She was elected 121 to 91.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall congratulated Rep. Angie Craig on being the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee in a statement.

“Farm Bureau congratulates Rep. Angie Craig on her nomination to serve as the next ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. Rep. Craig has a long history of working in a bipartisan manner to advance the needs of America’s farmers and ranchers.

Her leadership is needed now more than ever, as farmers face economic headwinds including inflation, high supply costs and decreasing commodity prices. Those challenges can quickly become a crisis if they’re not addressed with a new, modernized farm bill. Congress has kicked the can down the road too many times. Now is the time to act. We stand ready to work with Rep. Craig to ensure passage of a new 5-year farm bill and to address other matters important to agriculture and rural America.”