In Michigan U.S. Senate race, could farm backing break Democratic control?

• Farmers, losing a longtime Congressional ally in Debbie Stabenow, could play a key role in choosing her successor
• Rogers recently clinched Michigan Farm Bureau endorsement, Slotkin has support of farm union and regional business groups
• Farmers seek speedy resolution of farm bill, immigration reform, specialty crop protections

With U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s imminent retirement, Michigan’s conservative-leaning agricultural community is losing a powerful ally in Congress — and Democrats risk losing a swath of crossover voters that could be crucial in the race to succeed her.

Stabenow’s leadership position on the Senate Agriculture Committee earned her favor with farmers, rare for a Democrat, and helped carry her through several close elections. 

Democrat Elissa Slotkin and White Lake Township Republican Mike Rogers are now in a heated race to replace her. Both boast congressional experience, national security backgrounds and are attempting to appeal to agricultural interests. But Rogers last month won backing of a key agricultural group that had supported Stabenow in prior years. 

Whoever wins the Senate seat could play a role in the future of the farm bill, which Stabenow helped author in years past: massive, multibillion-dollar legislation that’s a top priority among Michigan farmers, as it funds a wide array of agricultural supports and nutrition programs. 

That law is typically rewritten every five years, though the last version was signed in 2018. Congress approved an extension, but that legislation expired on Sept. 30. 

Related:

• What farmers want from Michigan’s next U.S. senator
• Michigan’s ‘queen of ag’ is retiring, risking Democratic U.S. Senate seat

Both candidates sought the support of the Michigan Farm Bureau’s AgriPAC, the political arm of the group representing farmers across the state. The group recently backed Rogers, who said he’s “honored and grateful” for the support.

“Our farmers know I'll always have their back,” Rogers told Bridge Michigan. “I’ll fight to lower costs, slash needless regulations and pass the farm bill so farmers can thrive and leave a lasting legacy for the next generation to succeed and feed the world.”

Slotkin, who currently serves on the House Agriculture Committee, resides on her family’s Holly farm and is the granddaughter of Hugo Slotkin, a longtime meatpacker who ran Hygrade Meat Company.

She’s promised to seek a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee if elected and previously told Bridge she sees food security and the future of farming as a national security issue critical to Michigan and the nation’s success. 

She recently told WZZM13 that she’s committed to finishing work on the farm bill and will continue to seek support from farmers across the state.

"Look, it's political season," Slotkin told the outlet. "I look forward to working with anyone who's here to advocate for our farmers as soon as this election is done."

What farmers want

Agriculture is one of Michigan’s biggest industries, contributing an estimated $104.7 billion annually to the state’s economy and employing about 17 percent of the state’s workforce, according to Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development figures. 

Industry insiders say one of the biggest pressure points for Michigan farmers is finding enough seasonal workers to harvest crops — and affording them. 

Like employers in most sectors of Michigan’s economy, farmers are struggling to fill labor shortages as the state’s population stagnates and gets older. 

Many have sought to fill in the gaps using the federal H-2A program, which authorizes temporary immigration clearance for foreign workers seeking agricultural jobs. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor certified about 370,000 temporary jobs under the H-2A program, 4% of which were in Michigan.

Farms hiring migrant workers are subject to the federal government’s “adverse effect wage rate,” a policy aimed at keeping employment opportunities fair for domestic farm workers. 

Michigan’s 2024 rate is set at $18.50 per hour — among the highest in the country, according to a Michigan State University study — and farmers using H-2A workers are also on the hook for paying housing and transportation costs. 

During a recent farmer’s forum hosted by the Rogers campaign, Al Dietrich of Ottawa County’s Dietrich Orchards said many farmers feel like they’re being “regulated to death.”

“It’s not sustainable to keep these farms afloat, paying these high wages that we’re forced to,” he said. 

Michigan is also one of the most agriculturally diverse states in the U.S. and is the leading producer of several fruits and vegetables, including tart cherries and asparagus. 

Fruits and vegetables are considered “specialty crops” and are treated differently under federal policies than commodity row crops like wheat, corn or soybeans. Farmers who grow them historically hadn’t been eligible for the same supports, such as crop insurance or federal grant funding, but they were included in recent farm bills. 

Juliette King-McAvoy, vice president of sales and marketing at King Orchards fruit farm in Antrim County, said farmers want “someone that's recognizing Michigan and representing Michigan” in the highest levels of government to ensure that continues.

She said she’s encouraged by Slotkin’s agricultural background and her efforts to align with farmers’ interests and believes Stotkin could capably fill Stabenow’s shoes. 

“I think she recognizes the importance of agriculture to Michigan's economy and the country's economy,” King-McAvoy said. “She's aware of specialty crops and the unique challenges and needs we're facing here.” 

Ag’s role in the Senate race

When courting agricultural votes at a recent Farm Bureau forum, both Rogers and Slotkin expressed a willingness to ease regulations, address immigration issues and find ways to maximize global trade opportunities while protecting Michigan farmers. 

Slotkin said some of her top priorities include expanding assistance for specialty crop farmers in the farm bill, protecting agricultural land and putting a freeze on farm labor wage increases. She’d also support requiring at least one farm regulatory requirement to be dropped any time a new regulation is added, and would advocate for stronger trade rules that support fruit and vegetable sales in global markets. 

“We’ve got a lot of other states that have these big, big commodity farms that we need to be able to have strength to push back on so we get our fair share,” Slotkin said. “I'm someone who understands how to fight, and I want to do that on behalf of Michigan farming.” 

Rogers also expressed support for a farm worker wage freeze and advocated for broader H-2A reforms, including relaxing housing requirements and renegotiating trade deals to protect farmers from subsidized foreign imports.

He criticized the delay in getting a bipartisan farm bill agreement off the ground, arguing that farmers “don’t have two years to wait.”

Rogers also said he was concerned about the “Californication” of higher-than-necessary regulatory standards being implemented in other states, and he vowed to prevent that from happening in Michigan.

State Sen. Roger Victory, a Hudsonville Republican and vegetable farmer, said Rogers’ congressional background and understanding of several issues that intersect with agriculture — like trade, manufacturing and global politics — make him a good candidate to be the “voice of Michigan ag” at the federal level. 

Rogers has widely touted the Farm Bureau endorsement in recent weeks, and other conservative groups have attacked Slotkin’s agricultural record on the campaign trail.

The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, recently claimed in an attack ad that Slotkin’s 2021 vote on a multibillion dollar pandemic stimulus package amounted to “denying farm aid to white farmers.” 

The ad is apparently referencing a portion of the legislation offering debt relief to farmers of color, which was altered to offer relief based on economic need instead of race after a court challenge.

Democratic leaders downplayed the significance of the Farm Bureau’s AgriPAC endorsement on the overall race, and expressed confidence that Slotkin is “in a good position” to win the open seat.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, a Bloomfield Township Democrat and chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, in September told attendees of a Christian Science Monitor forum that Stabenow’s high-ranking position on the Agriculture Committee made her one of the few Democrats the group has endorsed in recent memory. 

“Otherwise, basically, they’re an extension of the Republican Party,” he quipped. 

Among the broader business community, Slotkin won approval from the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce PAC and the Northern Michigan Policy Fund, the political arm of Traverse Connect. The Michigan Farmer’s Union also endorsed her early in the cycle, calling her a leader “willing to fight for our interests.”