Takeaways

• A national monument designation can leave ranchers in limbo for years. Chris Heaton explains how a 2023 proclamation listing drainages and grasslands as protected "objects" left his family unable to get straight answers on maintaining stock ponds or adding new water improvements.
• The Heatons' federal lawsuit with Pacific Legal Foundation was dismissed for lack of standing, but they are weighing a refile or an appeal, and their bigger goal is to fix the Antiquities Act so no president can lock up millions of acres on their own.
• Submitting your story to the USDA lawfare portal can lead somewhere. The Heatons filled it out with low expectations and were invited to Washington, D.C., where they met with Secretary Brooke Rollins and her team and told their story at a press event and on News Nation.

Summary of the Episode

In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, host Amanda Radke welcomes back Chris and Cassie Heaton, sixth-generation cattle ranchers who live in Kanab, Utah, and run a cow-calf operation on the Arizona Strip, just north of the Grand Canyon. When they first joined the show, a federal national monument designation was putting their grazing and water rights at risk. This time they share what has happened since, from a federal lawsuit to a trip to the nation's capital.

Chris walks through how the designation unfolded, starting with public hearings in Flagstaff and Kingman in 2023 and the decision to exclude their private ground from the final monument. He explains why the proclamation worries him: it lists drainages and grasslands as objects to protect, their stock ponds sit inside those drainages, and the Department of the Interior told him that what they can and cannot do is up to interpretation. With help from Pacific Legal Foundation, the Heatons sued in February 2024. The case was recently dismissed for lack of standing, and they are now working with their legal team on whether to refile or appeal, with the ultimate goal of fixing the Antiquities Act.

After the change in administration, the Heatons submitted their story through the USDA lawfare portal, not expecting a response. At the end of June, Secretary Rollins' office invited them to Washington, and on July 1 they met with the Secretary, her team, and Representative Eli Crane, shared their story at a press event, and appeared on News Nation. Amanda shares her own experience at the White House supper honoring farmers and ranchers, and her fight against a carbon pipeline near her ranch, as she and the Heatons talk about why speaking up matters even when it is uncomfortable.

Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business

• Resources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

Takeaways

• Senator Mike Rounds calls President Trump's plan to import 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef "disappointing," warning it sends the wrong signal to a cattle market that has finally started rewarding producers after the smallest U.S. cow herd in 70 years.
• Rounds breaks down the RANC Act, a bipartisan bill with Senator Amy Klobuchar that would pay landowners the county average rental rate to put marginal cropland back into grass for 10 to 15 years, capped at 20 million acres nationwide, in an effort to rebuild the national cow herd.
• Mandatory country of origin labeling finally has a real path forward. Rounds confirms Senator Thune got it included in the farm bill moving through the Senate Agriculture Committee, more than a decade after producers first started pushing for it.

In this special episode of the "Heart of Rural America," host Amanda Radke sits down with Senator Mike Rounds at the Casey Tibbs Heritage Center in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, right after a one hour roundtable discussion with cattle producers from across the state. The conversation centers on President Trump's surprise announcement to buy 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef, and Rounds does not mince words about it, calling it disappointing and warning that it undercuts an America First message at the exact moment cow-calf operators are finally turning a profit.

Rounds and Radke dig into why beef prices are up in the first place: the American cow herd is the smallest it has been in 70 years, and rebuilding it means ranchers have to hold back heifers instead of selling them, a multi-year commitment with no fast fix. That leads into a detailed breakdown of the Ranch Act, Rounds' bipartisan proposal with Senator Amy Klobuchar to pay landowners to convert marginal cropland back into grass for 10 to 15 years, with a second payment available from whoever grazes the land. The two also cover the recent reopening of the Mexico border to cattle imports, packer consolidation, and the progress mandatory country of origin labeling has made inside the farm bill after more than a decade of advocacy.

Presented by Bid On Beef | CK6 Consulting Services Inc. | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Ambrook | Redmond Real Salt | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Try a one-month trial with Ambrook for free here: ambrook.com/radke
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business
• Report an issue with the USDA Lawfare portal: https://www.usda.gov/lawfare
• Join the property rights fight at American Land & Legacy. at www.americanlandandlegacy.org

Pre-Order Laura's book: https://bravebooks.us/products/rogers-hay-day?srsltid=AfmBOorOdGgK8CQcJj3-cmdUUpff1fkL-fswYbQGRo6uFtsGOI_7M1O3

Check out Laura on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LauraFarms

Takeaways:

• Laura Wilson explains how Laura Farms started in April 2020 when she propped her iPhone in her tractor cab during planting season, and how that first video's viral moment turned into six and a half years of content and a real revenue stream for her farm.
• Laura breaks down the practical side of building a farm-based media brand: her weekly YouTube posting schedule, hiring a part-time editor, filming everything on an iPhone with DJI mics, and the brand partnerships, like her multi-year relationship with Chief Industries, that now help pay down her land debt.
• Laura and Amanda talk about her new children's book, Roger's Hay Day, published with Brave Books and distributed through a partnership with FFA, releasing October 9 and designed to plant a love of agriculture and reading in the next generation.

In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, host Amanda Radke sits down with Laura Wilson, a fifth-generation Nebraska farmer and the creator of the YouTube channel Laura Farms. Laura explains that her channel started almost by accident in April 2020, when COVID sent everyone home and she propped her iPhone in the corner of her tractor cab to document planting her first crop as an official partner in her family's operation. The video went viral, and what began as a way to give homeschooling families a window into rural life has grown into six and a half years of content across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and more.

Laura and Amanda dig into the entrepreneurial side of farming: how Laura started with a $100,000 beginning farmer loan from the FSA at 18 years old, backed by little more than babysitting money and a dirt bike, and how brand partnerships like her multi-year relationship with Chief Industries have become what she calls her off-farm job, helping her pay down land debt and stay a full-time farmer. She shares her simple production process, an iPhone, a couple of DJI mics, a part-time editor who has freed up 15 hours a week, and pushes back hard on the excuse that people don't have time to share their own story: how you spend your days is how you spend your life.

Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business

• Resources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

NEW EPISODE of the "Heart of Rural America" featuring Amanda Radke & Chris Earl, recorded on Aug. 15 at Reverse Rocking R Ranch, Maxwell, NM.

Topics of discussion:

In part one, Chris and Amanda talk about three exciting sales offering elite Angus genetics including:

- Aug. 29: Musgrave Angus

- Sept. 5: Rhoades Ranch

- Sept. 12: CK6 Genetic Allies at Edgar Brothers

In part two, they unpack some of the biggest challenges in the beef cattle business today:

- Market consolidation, facilities closing & the 85% monopoly holding the industry captive

- Amanda's recent trips to Washington, D.C. to visit with the Trump administration and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins

- Truth in labeling, MCOOL, Substantial Transformation

Part three ends on a positive note, as they offer some words of encouragement for the American cattle rancher on:

- Leverage

- Entrepreneurship

- Marketing

- Paving the way

- Building relationships with your customers

- Standing for the truth & living by your faith

Presented by Bid On Beef | CK6 Consulting Services Inc. | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Ambrook | Redmond Real Salt | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Listen to Steve Stratford's CATTLE CHAT here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Cattle-CHAT-100068146624164/
• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Try a one-month trial with Ambrook for free here: ambrook.com/radke
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business
• Report an issue with the USDA Lawfare portal: https://www.usda.gov/lawfare
• Join the property rights fight at American Land & Legacy. at www.americanlandandlegacy.org

Takeaways

• Fanchon Stinger shares how learning to hear a clear "no" from God, even when everyone around her said "run for office," kept her out of a season she now believes would have been disastrous.
• After becoming the target of media attacks meant to mischaracterize her, Fanchon walked through a four step process, cling, focus, fight, and share, that turned the experience into a testimony instead of bitterness.
• Fanchon and Amanda dig into why so many young women today say they lack joy and purpose, and why Fanchon believes the next generation needs a foundation of faith, not just confidence tactics.

Summary of the Episode

In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, Amanda Radke welcomes back her dear friend Fanchon Stinger, a fifteen time Emmy winning broadcast journalist, TV personality, and founder and CEO of Grit and Grace Nation. Fanchon returns to the show fresh off a trip to Washington, D.C. with Amanda for CPAC's Inaugural Women's Warrior Summit, where the two sat together on the Ranchers Coalition and Amanda's daughter Scarlett got to tag along.

The conversation traces Fanchon's path from broadcast journalism into an unexpected chapter of political consideration, and the hard lesson she learned about waiting on a clear answer from God before making a major life decision. She opens up about becoming a target of media mischaracterization, the four step process she now teaches for walking through disappointment without spiraling, and the PRAY framework, Praise, Repent, Ask, Yield, she leans on in moments of crisis. From there, Amanda and Fanchon turn to the next generation, talking through why so many young women describe themselves as joyless and directionless despite growing up with more access and opportunity than ever, and why Fanchon believes the fix starts with faith, not performance.

The episode closes with Fanchon connecting her work at Grit and Grace Nation to the bigger picture: agriculture, rural communities, and the country itself are in what she calls a spiritual battle, and the way through it starts with a personal relationship with Christ, not politics alone.

Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business

Takeaways

• Casey Murph explains how Orsted, a Denmark-based wind and solar conglomerate, applied to take over the Arizona state grazing allotment his family has ranched for more than 100 years, and why he refused to give the company access through his private land.
• Casey makes the case that a full transition to renewable energy is not physically possible, pointing to the Nature Conservancy's Power of Place report, and argues for nuclear power and rooftop or parking lot solar instead of converting working rangeland.
• Amanda and Casey break down what any landowner can actually do when a company or government agency comes after their land: get educated, get local, get loud on social media, and don't wait for Washington to fix it for you.

Summary of the Episode

In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, Amanda Radke sits down with Casey Murph, a cow-calf rancher in Navajo County, Arizona, whose family has run cattle on the same range since before Arizona was a state. Casey explains that since Governor Katie Hobbs took office in 2022 and created a task force to fast-track state land for renewable energy development, he has received repeated notices that solar companies have applied to take over parts of his grazing allotment. The company he's most concerned about is Orsted, a global wind and solar conglomerate based in Denmark and partially owned by the Danish government, which reached out asking for access through his private land to reach the isolated state ground behind his gate. Casey said no.

Casey and Amanda walk through what that process looks like, the leverage he does and doesn't have, and why his cousins across the river already lost most of their ranch to a similar project. They also get into the bigger picture: why Casey believes the renewable energy transition as currently pitched is mathematically impossible, why nuclear and urban rooftop solar make more sense than converting rangeland, and why he thinks every rancher facing something like this needs to get on social media and tell their story, even if they'd rather not be in front of a camera.

Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business

• Resources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

Takeaways

• Action beats perfection. You don't need the perfect business plan, website, or logo — you need to start, and you can start in the next 30 days.
• Diversified income isn't a betrayal of "real" farming or ranching. 80% of farm families already have a spouse working off-farm, and stacking revenue streams (agritourism, direct sales, speaking, content, equipment rentals) is smart, not lesser.
• The strongest rural businesses are built on story and relationships, not just product. People buy the family, the faith, the failures, and the legacy behind what you sell — then they buy direct, because they crave the connection.

In this solo episode of The Heart of Rural America, Amanda Radke answers the question she gets asked more than almost any other: how do you build wealth, opportunity, and a lasting legacy for your family and community when you live in the middle of nowhere? Amanda speaks on entrepreneurship all over the country — at ag banking conferences, cattlemen's and cattlewomen's events, Farm Bureau, Farm Credit — and this episode is her chance to lay out the full framework in one sitting.

She opens by knocking down the excuse she hears constantly: that small towns don't have enough customers, enough opportunity, or enough reason to stay. Living in South Dakota, where cattle outnumber people four to one, Amanda argues rural America doesn't suffer from a lack of opportunity — it suffers from a lack of vision and the confidence to chase it.

From there she counts down ten practical, specific moves: stop waiting for permission and just start messy (she began as a $30-an-article freelance writer during the 2008 recession); build around problems, not products; use the internet to serve locally but market nationally; stack multiple income streams the way she and her husband Tyler did, renting out ranch buildings before they could even afford cattle; become a better storyteller, because people buy stories before they buy products; turn relationships into real opportunities; sell direct to cut out the middleman and build trust with consumers hungry for transparency; invest in skills — public speaking, sales, writing, leadership — that appreciate forever; build a brand bigger than yourself, using the founding of American Land and Legacy as her own example; and, at number one, bring back the family dinner table as the real engine of rural economic development.

Amanda closes by rejecting the narrative of rural decline. She sees innovators, young families moving home, ranchers building direct-to-consumer brands, and moms starting businesses from the kitchen table — and she argues the future of rural America will be built one family, one business, one small town at a time.

Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business

Takeaways

• Why learning to grow food and understand agriculture builds stronger families and communities.
• How homesteading teaches resilience, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and practical life skills.
• Simple first steps anyone can take toward becoming more self-sufficient without changing their entire lifestyle.

Summary of the Episode

What happens when a food safety expert, homesteader, and educator decides to reinvent the way families learn about agriculture?

In this inspiring conversation, Amanda sits down with Kody Hanner, founder of Homestead Education, to discuss the growing movement toward self-sufficiency, homeschooling, and reconnecting families with where their food comes from.

Kody shares the personal story that transformed her family's life after her husband was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease, leading them to embrace a healthier lifestyle centered around raising their own food, homeschooling their six children, and building a thriving homestead in North Idaho.

Together, Amanda and Kody explore why practical life skills matter now more than ever, how agriculture education can shape future generations, and why entrepreneurship is key to keeping rural America strong. They also discuss the importance of work ethic, raising resilient children, supporting local farmers, and creating new opportunities for family farms through direct-to-consumer agriculture.

Whether you're raising kids on a ranch, living on a small acreage, or simply looking for ways to become more self-sufficient, this episode is filled with practical advice and encouragement to take the first step.

Key Topics Covered

• Kody Hanner's journey into homesteading and homeschooling
• Lessons learned from building a self-sufficient family lifestyle
• Why COVID changed the conversation around food security
• The importance of teaching children where food comes from
• Agriculture education for homeschool, public school, and families
• Practical first steps toward homesteading
• Raising resilient kids through hands-on learning
• Entrepreneurship and diversifying farm income
• Direct-to-consumer agriculture and adding value to family farms

Connect with Kody Hanner

Visit thehomesteadeducation.com to explore Homestead Education curriculum, survival courses, agriculture science resources, and tools designed to help families, educators, and communities reconnect with food, farming, and self-sufficiency.

Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle

• Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.com
• Save on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/
• Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-books
• Learn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-business