Landowner Rally Set - January 13 in Pierre

Last year, during the 2024 legislative session, we were told by an elected official in a testimony on the floor that the proposed carbon sequestration pipeline, and the legislation that would be created around it, would set the precedent for “50 years of projects ahead.”

Although I’m sure this politician meant it as a promise of opportunity, from my vantage point as a landowner sitting in the gallery above, it sounded foreboding, like a threat to my land and private property rights.

And why would I, and so many others, have that reaction to this statement?

It could be perhaps that more than 100 landowners had already, at this point, received condemnation papers and threats of eminent domain use from a privately-owned, out-of-state company.

It could be because we see the Green New Deal coming into our state, and the thought of greenwashing the entire prairie with tens of thousands of acres of ugly solar panels and wind turbines makes our stomachs churn.

It could be because we have seen the demise of rural communities, with main street businesses closing and thousands of small and mid-sized family farms going out of business each year — in favor of increased consolidation and corporatization of our food supply.

We know and can clearly see that the “get big or get out” mentality has permeated our rural, agricultural states, perpetuated by government programs incentivizing some markets and creating upheaval in other markets, and it’s not what a fair and true capitalist, free market society should look like.

So now when we hear about “fifty years of projects,” we look at it with eyebrows raised, and When politicians give passionate speeches about “economic development” and “valued-added agriculture,” their messages falls increasingly flat.

If your ideas of picking winners and losers in agriculture (using our tax payer dollars, by the way) worked so well and improved the lives and opportunities of family farms and ranches, then why are our rural communities carved out? Why are we struggling to keep small schools open? Why are the main streets sitting empty? Why are fewer young people able to get involved in production agriculture?

Perhaps (I’ll say the quiet part out loud here), your ideas of economic development and value-added agriculture really is about funneling our hard-earned money to the corporate donor class and the interests of billionaires, rather than serving the very people who call this prairie “home.”

Folks, we are in the middle of an outright land grab in our rural state — one that holds the future of our rural landscape in the palm of its hand.

These developers —bringing in their artificial intelligence data centers, green energy projects, sustainable aviation jet fuel plants, and ridiculous carbon pipeline scams — do nothing for the average citizen and the families who have planted roots here.

Yet, here in flyover country — a place that used to be largely overlooked — we are very much the center of discussion and attention on a national stage. And why would that be? Could it be because so many acres of wide open prairie, with access to unadulterated natural resources, might be quite valuable to the corporations who desperately want access to it?

And could the people finally be realizing the truth — that the only thing standing in the way of their “progress,” is YOU, the landowner?

I’ve often contended that he who controls the land, controls the food, and who controls the food, controls the people.

Who do you want holding that much control? A wide range of diverse, independent families to create a robust and well-spread out food system? Or a corporatized, consolidated machine that creates cheap food and food deserts, while ultimately pushing families into big cities, off the land, for good?

If I paint a grim picture, I apologize, but there’s no way to sugar coat the impact of some of these proposed “fifty years of projects ahead.”

However, despite these external threats that seek to eliminate our beloved farming and ranching communities, I am actually quite optimistic about what’s ahead in 2025. With a change in administration and certain shakeups coming, now might be the opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators, and creative young people to find their way back to rural America.

I am hopeful about what is ahead, and I believe we are well-positioned to create a climate where we truly control the land under our feet.

In the state of South Dakota, we have important discussions that will soon arise as we welcome a new year. The 2024 primary and general elections have given us a new class of legislators in Pierre — with both the House and Senate leadership changing hands to individuals who have proven their commitment to stand with landowners.

We have a real shot at getting the eminent domain reform we deserve in South Dakota, and we have a mandate by the people to get this done. If our defeat of RL21 was any indication — where the voters turned down a carbon pipeline bill with a 59% NO vote in 65 of 66 counties — then the message is loud and clear: strengthened private property rights are desperately needed and expected in South Dakota, without delay. 

On January 13, I invite you to join us as a landowner rally in Pierre, SD, at noon in the Capitol, where we will send a message to our legislators that will echo the halls of the rotunda — in South Dakota, we may be open for business, but we are not for sale! Now, let’s get to work.