U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., was at the Iowa State Fair on Friday speaking in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Voters concerned about federal agriculture policies will gravitate toward Barack Obama, said Nebraska senator Ben Nelson at the Iowa State Fair Thursday.

In an interview with the Iowa Independent Thursday afternoon, Nelson said that there are many important differences in the two major presidential candidates on farm policy.

The key difference, said Nelson, is on biofuels.

“Senator Obama supports corn-based ethanol and moving to other bio-based ethanol products as well,” Nelson said. Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., “has fought against, and does not support corn-based ethanol and has resisted it and voted against it.”

The Nebraska Democrat, who serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, played an important role in crafting the new farm bill that was passed into law earlier this year. He worked alongside Iowa’s senators, Democrat Tom Harkin and Republican Chuck Grassley, to bring the bill out of committee and ultimately to passage through an override of a veto by President Bush.

“Senator Obama comes from a state that’s rich in agriculture — Illinois,” said Nelson. “He understands agriculture and is willing to work with farmers and ranchers to find better ways. And he supported the farm bill.”

McCain, said Nelson, voted against the farm bill and is “still opposed to the farm bill and to any kind of government support for ethanol.”

He said voters in Iowa and in Nebraska who are concerned about agriculture will have a clear decision. “It’s a matter of what people decide to support, and what their agenda is, that will cause voters to decide who to vote for. Either in favor of the farm bill, in favor of supporting agriculture — or in favor of the positions of Senator Obama’s opponent, which in my opinion certainly should not be attractive to Nebraskans or Iowans or anybody in agriculture.”

Nelson went on to speak in support of Obama at the Des Moines Register building, where he discussed how he believes Obama’s health care proposals will benefit rural areas.