Current Senate Ag Committee Chair Pat Roberts will be retiring soon, so the logical question is who will replace him. 

Roberts, the longtime Senator from Kansas, says he expects John Boozman of Arkansas to take his spot as Chair. 

He told the National Journal last week that he thinks Boozman will be an excellent committee Chair. 

The report quoted Roberts as saying, “the soft-spoken senior appropriator from Arkansas will replace him as chairman, and that he’ll be excellent.” 

The National Journal notes that Boozman isn’t the most senior member of the Ag Committee. 

However, more long-standing members have other responsibilities. 

For example, Mitch McConnell can’t serve as the Senate Majority Leader and the head of a committee at the same time. 

In an interview, Boozman says as chair, he would focus on the farm bill and promoting bipartisan cooperation. 

He’s also planning to take up child-nutrition legislation if the push by Roberts to get it passed falls short of a December deadline.