The Radke Report

It’s time for our elected officials to answer the cries of the citizens and send a clear message to potential companies who want to come do business here: We love opportunity, and we are open for new and exciting ideas. However, if you’re going to enter into business in our state, you must secure landowner easements through good faith negotiations. And you must respect those who have other business plans for the land that they own.

A Charolais friend of Arnold’s told me at the visitation, “Amanda, if someone told Arnold it couldn’t be done, he didn’t believe them. He was a dreamer, and he was absolutely living his dream.”

I’ve often said meeting people on the dusty trail is my favorite part of traveling the country speaking at agricultural conferences. At every stop I make, I am immensely blessed to meet some of the best folks in rural America, people who are doing inspiring things to make this country stronger and agriculture great.

These folks are what inspires this column and my weekly podcast, “The Heart Of Rural America.” It’s their stories, their businesses, and their pursuit of the American dream that continues to push me to fight to keep family farms and ranches on the land, where they belong.

Let me give you an example to show you what I mean.

I was recently told I was “selfish and self-serving,” for opposing a 700-mile proposed carbon pipeline that is cutting through multiple states, strong-arming families, condemning landowners, and attempting to forcibly take easements against people’s will. 

The commenter suggested that “for the good of all,” we should be willing to give up our own private property rights for a hypothetical, unproven suggestion of greater profitability for one industry. 

I was aghast to read this. To be quite frank, it sounded like extreme socialism to me. And while I value differing opinions, freedom of speech, and the ability to have difficult conversations with others, I found this to be quite alarming that an individual would suggest that standing up for your family and your neighbors and protecting them from potential harm could somehow be “selfish and self-serving.”  

On January 13, nearly 400 landowners and South Dakota citizens gathered at the South Dakota Capitol Rotunda for a private property rights rally to kick off the 2025 legislative session. Speakers included Speaker of the House Rep. Jon Hansen, Brown County Commissioner Drew Dennert, Senator Mark Lapka, Spink County landowner Ed Fischbach, and Davison County rancher Amanda Radke. 

During the rally, Rep. Karla Lems (R.-Canton), who was recently voted by her peers and sworn in to serve as the House Speaker Pro Tempore, introduced a bill she is calling, “The People’s Bill,” HB1052, which would prohibit the exercise of eminent domain for a pipeline that carries carbon oxide.

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.

A red wave has washed over the country, and with the re-election of President Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States, all eyes are on his cabinet appointments and what they might mean for the direction the country is headed in for the next four years. 

To date, Trump has selected Rep. Elise Stefanik as the UN Ambassador; Governor Kristi Noem as the Secretary of Homeland Security; Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State; Mike Huckabee as the Ambassador to Israel; John Ratcliffe as CIA Director; Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary; Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence; Matt Gates as Attorney General; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services; Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Todd Blanche as Deputy of Attorney General, Dean John Bauer as Solicitor General; and Governor Doug Burger as Interior Secretary — all of which require a confirmation by the Senate.

Thank you to Andrew Southwick for having me on his BEK News Culture Crossroads show to talk about the attempted land grab happening in South Dakota.

Please, stand united with farmers, ranchers, and landowners, and vote NO on RL21 to safeguard our private property rights and local governance.