Cape News

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) attended the annual 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 meeting.

“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.”

During his meeting, Senator Hawley spoke alongside Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins and presented awards to recognize farmers and ranchers from across Missouri, including the “Senator Kit Bond Memorial Farmer of the Year Award.”

Hawley honored Linda Bond and her late husband, Christopher “Kit” Bond—who served as both United States Senator and Governor for Missouri—for their long service to the state. He presented Mrs. Bond with a framed copy of his Senate-passed resolution recognizing Mr. Bond, who died on May 13, 2025, as a significant figure in rural Missouri.

The senator answered questions from attendees on various state-specific issues and addressed concerns about federal green energy initiatives affecting local agriculture. Senator Hawley criticized efforts by the Biden Administration regarding 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-funded loan intended for the Grain Belt Express transmission line project, which would have impacted farmland across eight counties in Missouri while benefiting its parent company Invenergy.