Hawley's Senate campaign trail leads to Jackson Egg Company

Missouri Attorney General and Senate candidate Josh Hawley visited Jackson Egg Company during a campaign stop held in conjunction with the Missouri Farm Bureau Thursday.

Hawley praised the egg business and its founders, Christopher Ludwig and Adam Birk, for their initiative; the pair started the business in 2016 and has since grown to oversee roughly 6,000 birds.

Sometimes, Hawley said, it's tempting for young people raised on farms to abandon agriculture for other professions. That fact, he said, made Ludwig and Birk's commitment to farming more admirable, adding "our state depends on [agriculture]."

Hawley, who is running to unseat Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, said the upcoming election "will probably decide [who controls] the U.S. Senate."

Republicans' ability to retain Senate control, he said, is important to ensure the Trump administration's goals are realized.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com A chicken is seen in a pasture at Jackson Egg Company during a campaign visit by Missouri Attorney General and U.S. Senate Candidate Josh Hawley Thursday.

"The President is making great choices," Hawley said. "But it's the Senate that confirms it."

Hawley also emphasized the importance of voting Republican to ensure the confirmation of Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, should that nominee remain unconfirmed by election time.

Though Hawley did not mention Trump's nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh by name, he suggested conservative judges are typically more amenable to the interests of farmers.

Whenever a judge says he knows best, Hawley said, "it's always, always bad news for farmers."

Barry Bean, who sits on the Board of Directors for the Missouri Farm Bureau, attended Hawley's visit and said he appreciates the opposition Hawley presented as Missouri Attorney General to the Environmental Protection Agency's 2015 Clean Water Rule, which Bean said could mischaracterize property across the nation as wetland and incur undue regulation.

He said he decided to support the Missouri Farm Bureau's decision to endorse Hawley after hearing both Hawley and McCaskill speak at a farm bureau conference earlier in the campaign.

Hawley will continue his campaign today with stops at Perryville and Imperial, Missouri.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573)388-3627