Freedom & Property Rights Are Inseparable

It’s the hottest day of the summer, and if you raise livestock, you already know where you could find me — in the hayfield putting up square bales for the winter calving season.

It never fails that on square-baling day, the temperature is three digits, the mosquitos are out, and rain is on the forecast, so there’s no time to wait. The work must get done.

On this particular summer day, our whole crew — including our four kids — loaded up and headed to the hayfield, ready to tackle the job together as a family.

And while riding on the hay wagon stacking bales, I got to think about what a true blessing it is to work alongside family. I also thought about how rare it is to find families living this way anymore. 

The work is strenuous. It’s a daily grind that you can’t really run from. It’s an addictive challenge to defy the odds and make it another year in the cattle business, but it’s a hard life. And you really have to love it.

Yet, I wouldn’t trade all the fancy vacations and free nights and weekends in the world for what I have right here on our cattle ranch. Looking at the obstacles we face as producers, it’s hard not to feel like maybe this way of life is slipping between our fingers though.

Burdensome regulations. Smear campaigns. Crippling red tape. A packer monopoly. Lack of transparency in labeling. Activist agendas. Volatility in the marketplace. 

The list of why it doesn’t work is long, but oh, when it all comes together — what a rich reward it is!

I was thinking about all of this while stacking bales, and to me, the real issue farmers and ranchers face is in defending, protecting, and preserving our private property rights in this country.

President George Washington is credited for saying, “Freedom and property rights are inseparable. You can’t have one without the other.”

Yet, I worry it’s both our freedoms and our property rights that are slowly being eroded with each passing year. 

We have a real David and Goliath story happening in agriculture right now. Independent farmers and ranchers are being thrown to the wolves in favor of the corporate oligarchies that are running America.

Remember, he who controls the land, controls the food, and he who controls the food, controls the people. I am quite fearful over who is rapidly devouring control of our acres in this country. 

I am becoming increasingly worried about our nation's food security and the survival of the heart and soul of America -- the families who work the land, care for the livestock, and produce the essentials of life for all of society.

It all comes down to private property rights. We either have them or we don't. We either keep them, or we are no longer free. 

Don't give up your leverage, your sovereignty, and your freedom for a sweetheart deal and some quick cash. Think 100+ years from now when you sign on that dotted line, and be very careful who you give access to on your land.

Our very survival depends on your holding your ground. Do not bend. Your great grandchildren are counting on you.