U.S. Senator Josh Hawley | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) attended the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia this week, where he met with commodity groups and hosted an advisory council meeting with state farmers. Representatives Bob Onder (Mo.-03), Jason Smith (Mo.-08), Mark Alford (Mo.-04), and Eric Burlison (Mo.-07) were also present at the annual meeting.
During the event, Senator Hawley addressed the significance of agriculture in Missouri and its broader impact. “Ag is not the past. Ag is not only the present. Ag is the future,” Senator Hawley said. “You don’t have a sovereign country if you can’t feed your country. And [Missouri farmers] feed this country better than anybody else anywhere in the world.”
Hawley spoke alongside Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins and presented awards to recognize farmers and ranchers across Missouri, including giving out the “Senator Kit Bond Memorial Farmer of the Year Award.” The senator honored Linda Bond and her late husband, Christopher “Kit” Bond—who previously served as U.S. Senator and Governor of Missouri—for their contributions to the state. He presented Mrs. Bond with a framed copy of his Senate-passed resolution that recognized Mr. Bond, who passed away on May 13, 2025, as a significant figure for rural Missouri.
The meeting included a question-and-answer session where Hawley discussed various topics important to local farmers and constituents. He criticized federal green energy initiatives such as the Grain Belt Express project.
“As if they hadn’t taken enough from you,” Senator Hawley said to his constituents gathered, criticizing Democrats’ obsession with Green New Deal policies. “This is $5 billion dollars. [The Grain Belt Express] doesn’t meet the criteria for the loan. It’s an outrage; it’s an insult to the people of my state.”
Senator Hawley played a role in stopping a proposed $5 billion taxpayer loan intended for funding the Grain Belt Express transmission project—a project that had affected landowners across eight counties in Missouri while benefiting its parent company Invenergy.
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