Speaking
POWER. POISE. PASSION. PURPOSE.
Amanda Radke may be only 5'2" but she packs a big punch in her keynotes speeches and workshops. Radke considers every minute on the stage a monumental opportunity to connect, educate, motivate, and inspire. She has a knack for weaving humorous, personal stories into important, timely topics. She leaves audiences hungry for more and ready to take action once they leave your event.
Email Amanda at amanda.radke@live.com for pricing and availability on speaking engagements, classroom visits and wholesale/bulk purchases of her book titles.
Now Booking 2024 Events!
- Jan. 19-20: 2024 NYBPA Annual Convention, Syracuse, NY
- Jan. 25: Advanced Ag Products, LLC Meeting, Canton, SD
- Jan. 26: 2024 Cowgirls 'n Conservation, Watford City, ND
- Jan 28: Laurel Area Agribusiness Appreciation Banquet, Laurel, NE
- Jan. 29: Laurel - Concord - Coleridge School, Laurel, NE
- Jan. 30: Texas Beefhouse Live Beef Auction, Whitehouse, TX
- Feb 2: BHSS Women of the West with Scarlett & Lucky, Rapid City, SD
- Feb. 2: 6 Mile Angus Annual Production Sale, Flasher, ND
- Feb. 8: Agronomy Plus Meeting, Deadwood, SD
- Feb. 9: Farm Credit Side by Side Conference, Des Moines, IA
- Feb. 10: Tri-County Cattlemen's, Fairview Acres, Biggsville, IL
- Feb. 22: Ag Women In Engage Conference, Fort Wayne, IN
- Feb. 29: Marine Bank & Trust Ag Seminar, Cathage, IL
- March 2: Kendall Grundy Beef Association, Morris, IL
- March 7: North Dakota Winter Show, Valley City, ND
- March 8: Kenny Angus Annual Bull Sale, Odebolt, IA
- March 9: Northeast Iowa District FFA Convention, Waukon, IA
- April 4: SDSU College Republicans Meeting, Brookings, SD
- April 8: Maple River School, Mapleton, MN
- April 11: Farmers Cooperative Ladies Night, Crete, NE
- June 8: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Parkston, SD
- June 18: Miniature Hereford Junior Nationals, Duncan, OK
- July 19: Alabama junior Cattlemens Round-up, Montgomery, AL
- July 22: SD Association of Towns & Townships, Mitchell, SD
- Aug. 17: Midwest Feeds Annual Meeting, Chamberlain, SD
- Sept. 7: Eastern West Virginia Community & Tech College
- Sept. 16: Omaha Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, Norfolk, NE
- Sept. 21: MoonShine Angus Production Sale, Morrilton, AR
- Oct. 17: Minnesota Beef Expo, St. Paul, MN
- Dec. 13: Five Meade County Schools, SD
- Feb. 18, 2025: Midwest Forage Association, Wisconsin Dells, WI
NEW TOPIC: Bulletproof Your Business
Looking for a workshop to help your attendees deep-dive into the family agricultural enterprise? In this session, Amanda breaks down how to become price makers instead of price takers in agriculture. She explores how to step into the driver seat of the family business and hit the gas pedal hard using steps that are strategic, tactical, focused, and impactful. This session allows attendees to do an audit of their own agricultural businesses with take home action items to do with family members and employees. Continue to grow a legacy on the land with Amanda's "Bulletproof Your Business" method.
Topic #1: Meaningful Ag Advocacy Begins With Building Relationships
Agricultural Advocacy In Action Earns Premiums While Making Priceless Connections
Today’s consumer wants to know more about where their food comes from, but they aren’t getting their information from farmers and ranchers; they are getting their information from the loud voices of animal welfare activists, environmentalist zealots, biased media reporters, healthcare practitioners with plant-based agendas and celebrity influencers.
My work in this arena isn't superficial. I've been in the thick of things since 2006, when I staged a walk-out at the Carrie Underwood concert held at the National FFA Convention because of her affiliation and donations to the slick animal rights organization, the Humane Society of the United States.
Fast-forward to 2019, an open letter to Ellen DeGeneres responding to her push to #beneateatless meat, went viral on social media. Viewed tens of millions of times, this chapter in my advocacy work led to 50+ media interviews in just a few short weeks, which allowed me to debunk popular misconceptions about animal agriculture while becoming known as the "champion for agriculture" in the farming and ranching community.
Needless to say, I will not quit fighting against these politicians, celebrities and media giants who bash agriculture and perpetuate misconceptions. And I ask the audience to help me in this battle by doing three things -- leading with kindness, providing factual information, and being tough on those who want to put us out of business.
Focusing on consumer trends and how society really views food producers, this speech deep-dives into what these voices are saying about us and how we can most effectively respond as producers to protect our freedoms to farm, our freedoms to own livestock, and our freedom of choice at the grocery store.
What’s more, I discuss the regulatory pressures, the increasing demands from retailers and the myths that perpetuate these ongoing external challenges that aim to stifle producers and eliminate our industry, one family farm at a time.
I aim to motivate and inspire listeners, as well as give them the tools they need to succeed along the way. We have some laughs while covering some serious topics, as well. This is my most popular messaging request at agricultural events.
Topic #2: "Plant & Prune The Family Ag Business To Reap A Bountiful Harvest"
Navigating Dynamics of Multi-Generational Family Agricultural Businesses
When I returned back to the family ranch after college, I had a lot of big ideas for change! Imagine my frustration when my relentless pursuit for “doing things better” was met with skepticism and push-back from my parents. After all, they had been in the business for decades, and here I was a young kid fresh out of school who thought I could sweep in and change things up without first having some serious skin in the game.
If you work alongside family in your agricultural business, surely you can relate. The way we communicate as Millennial producers to our Baby Boomer parents isn’t always effective, and visa versa.
In addition, when you start adding in-laws, spouses and sibling dynamics to the big picture, it can be a huge challenge to keep the business running and to maintain the familial relationships at the same time!
That’s where I come in. As a fifth generation rancher raising the six-generation on our family operation, I’ve experienced the same challenges so many others have in agriculture. The message of this speaking topic focuses on clearly communicating with family members by understanding personality differences, age gaps and when/where/what should be discussed at family business meetings.
This speech is deeply personal, and often a heavy topic, but it comes from the heart, as well. It’s relatable, and I’ve had groups both laughing and crying throughout the presentation. Working alongside family can be a true blessing, but it can also be a curse. By sharing specific examples of success stories and of extreme failures, my aim of this speech is to help farming families stay in business, avoid pitfalls and love each other through good times and bad.
Topic #3: Shifting Our Mindset & Shaping New Opportunities In Ag
The pandemic was a challenging and heartbreaking chapter in American history. It revealed the vulnerabilities and cracks in our food supply. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of small businesses closed their doors for good. In the face of great uncertainty and factors beyond our control, Radke challenges her audiences to change their outlook, to look for new business opportunities where it appears none exist, and to pivot in creative and innovative directions in order to add value to their operations while serving as a high-quality supplier of safe, affordable, nutrient-dense food for consumers here and abroad. The overall message here is an empowering, motivating, inspiring theme that will have audiences exploring ways to INNOVATE. PIVOT. CONNECT. SERVE. And LEAD WITH POSITIVITY!
Topic #4: The Heart of Rural America
Amanda's new podcast, "The Heart of Rural America" highlights the amazing people she meets on the road. Their inspiring stories are motivational, inspirational, and touching. Along the dusty trail, Radke has noticed that in rural America, once thriving small towns now have main streets that are empty. As more young people pursue careers away from home, Amanda challenges families to help mentor, support, and encourage young kids and families to invest their time and talents at home in rural America, to ensure our farm and ranch communities remain strong. Community, fellowship, small businesses, and having a village to help us through life are the best attributes of rural America, and it's time we pay closer attention to ensuring its viability for future generations. 
Topic #5: Classroom Visits
If I’m coming to your upcoming meeting, why not coordinate a classroom visit while I’m there? This is a nice add-on that helps me practice what I preach. We need to share our agricultural stories with our consumers, and kids are a great place to start! Young people, in particular, need to hear about what farming and ranching is really like, to balance out some of the nonsense about agriculture they see on Disney movies!
With my books, “Levi’s Lost Calf," "Can-Do Cowkids," "The Soil Quilt," "Beef Strong," and "A Home Run For Peanuts," I love visiting schools and sharing my agricultural story with students!
Topic #8: Activist Awareness - Are you prepared?
We often approach activist attacks with a “that’ll never happen to me”… until it does. In this session, Amanda Radke will share personal experiences her family and friends have had with animal rights activists and environmental extremists and break down what response methods and tactics we should leave in the dust.
This presentation provides updates on legislative items and ballot initiatives that may impact your way of life in agriculture.
Topic #9: Cowgirl Authors Scarlett & Amanda Radke
Promoting ag literacy in schools has always been a passion of mine. I've taken my books from Los Angeles to New York City and everywhere in between. With nine children's books teaching kids about where their food comes from, I encourage others to use these stories as a resource to educate, empower, and engage young people on agriculture.
Now to make it even more fun, my 9-year old daughter, Scarlett, has written her own book, "Scarlett & Lucky," inspired by the true story of her bottle calf, who went viral on social media. Families and kids alike love this message! Interactive and fun!
Audience Testimonies
- "I finally had the opportunity to hear Amanda Radke speak at the SD Governor's Ag Summit. I've followed her since Ellen DeGeneres's 'eat less meat' message and her viral response to it. The beef industry and the agriculture industry are so lucky to have this woman in our corner. She is a great advocate and example of everything this industry stands for and the heart behind our work. Definitely worth following!" - Melissa VanWesten
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"Amanda Radke's speech was lights out again, as always. She is a fearless voice for our way of life." - Chris Earl, CK6 Consulting
- I've never seen the Lochness monster. I've never seen a unicorn. And I've never seen a fun speaker at a banking conference, until I listened to Amanda Radke." - Jay Garren, Pro Ag Banking Solutions
- “Huge thank you to Amanda Radke for joining us at our New York Beef Producer's Association conference. The most inspiring, down to earth, ‘real person’ that I believe our conference has seen. We thoroughly enjoyed your presentation and conversation!” - Zack Welker
- "I first witnessed Amanda speak as a 17-year old kid who captivated an entire room full of adults by passionately sharing the merits of beef consumption. Then, I witnessed a college kid lead a national movement to do the right thing. Today, I witnessed a mother, a wife, and motivator stir folks of all ages to do something because of her example. Amanda Radke sets the standard for what it means to be an American." - Trent Loos, professional speaker, Nebraska rancher and radio personality
- "Amanda's work, words, and delivery style are an amazing combination of passion and purpose, celebration and appreciation. She’s an astute 'student' of the audience before she becomes a 'teacher' of great value. Her experienced and authentic voice in agriculture truly helps us to find our voice. Those of us privileged to hear Amanda’s presentations know that agriculture is richer because of the life-lessons shared from her experiences, the application of her messages and the tremendous value of her insight. It’s great to see her light the power within us as we work together to be part of her mission: to protect our freedoms to farm and our freedom of choice at the grocery store. - Jolene Brown, professional speaker, author, farmer and family business consultant
- "Tonight I had the privilege of meeting Amanda Radke and listen to her powerful message! As a strong woman in ag, she is an inspiration to this industry and a woman I have admired and looked up to for a long time now! Hardcore fan girl moment! Here are the takeaways I received from listening to her talk: We need to impact the next generation of agriculture. Think about your WHY. Why you got started in agriculture, and why you continue to fight and advocate for this great industry. The best spokesperson for our industry is YOU. Your story, your authenticity, and your willingness to share is how you truly advocate and make an impact. Additionally, “agvocacy” is not just about sharing the facts. It’s about showing our hearts and connecting with consumers who do not understand our industry. When they know and connect with us, when they love us, is when they will fight along with us for production agriculture. After all, the best by-product of production agriculture and rural America is the people." - Avy Pollock, OH
- "I've been attending agricultural meetings for 25 years now, and Amanda is hands-down in the top 5% of speakers I have ever listened to, ever!" - Bill Legg, Tennessee beef producer
- "Amanda Radke was our guest speaker for New Mexico CowBelles mid-year meeting! We partnered with New Mexico Cattle Growers Association to deliver her message to everyone at the conference. I took away several things from her words of wisdom, but her positive affirmation that people want to know us as farmers and ranchers and want to support us, spoke to my heart and fueled a fire. We are very grateful to Amanda for fitting us into her schedule! If you ever have a chance to hear her speak, don’t hesitate, go!" - Vonda Frost, New Mexico cattle rancher
- THANK YOU Amanda for being an exceptional speaker and setting the tone for a great annual conference. We have had so many great comments on your speech. You can’t fake passion, and you have both passion and a gift." - Amanda Dackowsky, New York Beef Producers Association
- "Amanda does a great job. She wears her passion well and speaks from the heart." - David Skaggs, South Dakota Department of Agriculture dairy/ag development specialist
- "I loved Amanda's sessions at the Farm Women's Symposium. Her sense of humor about life, the kids, tractor payments, and farming are so much of what we can all relate to! She provides great advice to getting our lives in order and following through. And I loved her story about adoption!" - Shirley Carson, MI
- "You can't get any better than Amanda!! Book the best; book Amanda!!" - Jess Peterson, U.S. Cattlemen's Association executive vice president
- "Amanda Radke is phenomenal. Hiring her as a speaker is an investment in your organization and people." - Andrew Wood, Owner/Manager, Dirt Road Radio
- "Finally got to meet Amanda Radke in person after years of following her. She’s the real deal, of course I knew that. She makes you think about how we need to communicate with each other food producers and consumers." - Neil Rhonemus, Ohio
- "I learned more in Amanda's 20-minute speech than in the entire four-day convention combined." - Nathan Stanton, Tennessee
- "So many of Amanda's stories hit home, touched me, and made me feel more 'normal.' Having Amanda in our corner for agriculture gives us all hope for the future." - Tracie Jones, MI
Decades of Speaking Experience
I gave my first speech in a 4-H contest at just eight-years old. The speech was titled, “What is a Limousin?” and detailed the history and benefits of the breed of cattle my family raises on our ranch in South Dakota. On the day of the speech, my mom asked me, “Are you nervous?” And I replied, “No, Mom. Should I be?” The speech earned me a purple ribbon, and from that day on, I was hooked with sharing information with people in a public platform.
I went on to speak competitively in 4-H and FFA through my high school years, always focusing on agricultural topics in every presentation. As a senior in high school, I capped off my youth speaking career in 2006, winning both the National Beef Ambassador contest (speaking about beef by-products) and the National FFA Extemporaneous contest (speaking about beef safety after the first BSE case hit the United States).
These two victories were the catalyst for my adult speaking career. While attending college, I began traveling to speak to agricultural groups across the country. Word-of-mouth helped get me gigs, and overtime, I developed my core messaging that I wanted farmers and ranchers to hear.
Fourteen years later, I have traveled extensively spreading my message to cattlemen’s groups, women in agriculture events, young producer meetings and more. While my heart and soul is in the beef industry, my messaging is applicable to anyone who raises any type of livestock, crops, timber, or energy, as well as consumer groups who want to learn more about where their food comes from. If you utilize natural resources to provide food, fiber or other goods for consumers, my story is for you.
With regular appearances on radio shows, podcasts, local television stations and even FOX News, I am well-trained in media communications and offer the added value to event planners of being able to help promote your conference in interviews and on social media.
With a strong, loyal and growing following on social media, your event's purpose can be further communicated on my platforms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube and my podcast, "The Heart of Rural America"), which can lead to more participation and interest in your event for years to come.
Thank you for considering me to be a presenter at your next event. It is truly an honor each time I am asked to speak!
