Allies of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have quietly begun soliciting input from noted agriculture experts as the debate over the New York Democrat’s Green New Deal has intensified in Washington and provoked strong opposition in the ag sector.

The fledgling attempt at outreach has been seen by some as the first sign that AOC-land might engage rural interests in earnest as she fleshes out future climate legislation beyond the nonbinding resolution she and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) offered, which calls on Congress to enact a decade-long plan to shift the entire U.S. economy away from fossil fuels, reduce income inequality and create “millions of good, high-wage jobs.”