Fighting For Our Home Sweet Prairie
The American prairie is under attack from newly concocted programs and initiatives coming from our very own government, using our tax payer dollars — NAC, ESG, EID, DEI, Net Zero, the Green New Deal, Inflation Reduction Act, and the list goes on.
All unique in their messaging, repackaged slightly different, but at their core, these idealistic programs all have one thing in common — a mechanism of control.
Control of your land, your livestock, your livelihood, your food, and how you raise and support your family.
I’ve spent 18 years on the road fighting animal rights activists and environmental extremists, and it’s become abundantly obvious to me that these groups don’t care at all about the welfare of our animals or the abundance of our natural resources, but throw enough money at something, and these agendas can be used to take you off the land.
And that’s where we find ourselves today. It looks like an uphill battle — to safeguard our beautiful pastures and fields for the next generation — but failure is a pathway to starvation, a desolation of our ag land, the destruction of our rural communities, and the increased consolidation and corporatization of our food supply.
So how do we fight back?
I've always contended that our story is powerful. The truth needs to be set free. And it's going to take we the people to get it done. If we don’t tell our story, someone else will fill in the gaps for us — painting farmers and ranchers in a bad light to further their agendas in the media, the culture, and with our elected officials.
So how do we tell our stories?
We show up — to meetings of the county commission, the school board, the townships, and to committee hearings on bills at your state capitol. We show up and tell our stories on social media and to anybody who will listen. And we don’t do it alone — there is strength in numbers. Standing in solidarity with your friends, neighbors, and peers is the only way to command attention and slow down the agendas that seek to destroy our way of life.
It does’t all have to be political though. Our story is not just powerful, it’s endearing. What family farms and ranches do on the land is special, important, rare, and critical for a free and fed nation. It’s wholesome and centered around grit, hard work, determination, connectivity to the land and animals, and working together as a family. Less than 2% of us are involved in production agriculture today; however telling our stories opens up this world to folks all across the country who are not blessed to live the way we do.
We must share the positive stories from the heart of rural America, and that's what I'm committed to doing in 2025 and beyond.
One way to do that is by reaching the next generation. My children's books are aimed at teaching kids about agriculture and where their food comes from while celebrating the hard-working family farms and ranches who add as stewards of the land and livestock.
I’ve taken my children’s books to New York City, Los Angeles, and everywhere in between, and it’s such a joy to interact with these students, where oftentimes, I’m the first rancher they have ever met.
To kick off 2025, I’m so excited to introduce my latest project in this effort, a new children's book titled, "Home Sweet Prairie.” It's a sweet story that has been beautifully illustrated by my ten-year old daughter, Scarlett Radke, and it’s dedicated to the landowners in our home state of South Dakota who have fervently fought for their private property rights the last three years against a proposed Green New Deal carbon pipeline project that seeks to trample on everything we hold dear.
In the book, young readers will discover the wildlife that live on the prairie. They will explore the variety of plants and flowers that grow on the prairie. And the book celebrates the family farms and ranches who steward the land and livestock.
Our prairie is worth protecting. Our way of life is worth preserving. Our private property rights are worth fighting for. And our land, livestock, and liberty is worth standing up for. Help me spread this message and share a copy of “Home Sweet Prairie” with your local schools. May God bless our home sweet prairie.
Find your copy here: https://amandaradke.com/products/pre-order-childrens-book-home-sweet-prairie