Agriculture has a big role to play in climate change, and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) wants to make sure it is a positive role and that farmers won’t see more in terms of costs.  “You can’t do climate change legislation without agriculture, and so I think making sure they’re at the table and that agriculture gets what it needs in this process is going to be critical, and we’ll work hard to make sure that happens,” Lincoln said in an American Farm Bureau Federation Newsline interview Tuesday. Lincoln said she expects to hold hearings on climate change legislation in the Senate Agriculture Committee around the end of the year to address important questions such as: how will the legislation impact farmers, how much will input costs go up, will the cost of food go up? Lincoln said deadlines being set for the bill’s passage are extremely arbitrary and it is unrealistic to expect a bill by Thanksgiving.  Farm Bureau opposes the Senate Boxer-Kerry climate bill as currently written.