Washington’s long-running gridlock may temporarily loosen in 2015 and create a rare opportunity to pass legislation essential to farmers and rural America, including rebuilding the country’s transportation infrastructure, thwarting unnecessary regulation on farmers, boosting exports and stopping state-by-state efforts to label foods made with biotech crops, Bob Stallman, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) president, said last week.

"We’ve had a long winter of division and inaction in Congress, but we will never stop working for the solutions that farmers and ranchers need," Stallman said in his opening speech to the AFBF 96th annual meeting in San Diego. "Now it’s time for Congress to get back to work, to do their job so you can do yours."

Stallman...