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for $10 off your next auction. Welcome to the
Heart of Rural America podcast. I'm your host,
Amanda Radke, an American cattle rancher and
motivational speaker raising my kids and writing
children's books in South Dakota. There's a David
and Goliath story unfolding in agriculture today.
And I don't know about you, but my money is on
the underdog. The hardworking folks who value
faith, family, freedom, and their farming communities.
This show will highlight the untold stories of
these resilient and determined families who I
have the great pleasure of meeting in my travels
across this nation as an agricultural speaker.
It is my hope that their stories will remind
us to live with great courage because we are
not alone in this fight to keep producers on
the land and meet dairy and eggs on the dinner
table. Now let's hit the dusty trail together
as we uncover the heart of rural America. Welcome
to your show. Here's my mom, Amanda Radke. Hey
everybody, Amanda Radke, part of Roll America
podcast, the show where we highlight great people
doing inspiring things in their rural communities
to make agriculture and this country stronger.
Today's guest. know him and love him. He's been
on the show many times. Senator Mark Lockie of
Leola, South Dakota is back in here for the 2026
legislative session with some important dates
on bills that he'll be advancing forward to fortify
your property rights for this year and for generations
to come. Senator, welcome back to the show. Well,
thanks for having me back again, Amanda. It's
great to be here. We had just got off of our
first week of session. We hit the ground running
with a rally beginning on Monday that we announced
some pretty exciting legislation. that we're
going to be talking about today. Now, the rally,
man, Dakota News now described it as bigger and
stronger than ever before with the same consistent
message that we've always had, which is South
Dakota may be open for business, but we're not
for sale. Now talk to me about your thoughts
on the rally. I mean, we had a huge crowd, tons
of energy. People are motivated and activated.
What did that mean to you to see so many people
show up for this rally? It was quite frankly,
a little bit reinvigorating. Think an interesting
story. We had a rally prior to last session.
And I remember telling you and Carla Lems that
I said, I'm retiring from rallies. That's my
last one. A lot of work goes into them. There's
the constant worry about, is anybody going to
come? Is the movement running out of gas? Those
kinds of thoughts run through your head. And
it wasn't until we came up with this exciting
legislation that we're going to be discussing
today that we really thought that it required
it. And I was... quite frankly opposed to it
at the beginning. And you talked me into it.
We had another one, but I'll tell you what, walking
away from that, it was just absolutely awe inspiring.
Probably the biggest thing that I took away from
that was all the new faces that showed up. This
isn't losing gas, it's gaining steam and it's
gaining steam in a major way. I think I made
the mention there that this might become an annual
event and I think I'm going to stick to that
because people are excited to come and take part
in our government. I had told you last year when
you said, this is my last rally I'm ever going
to do. And I had said at that time, well, we'll
see, knowing that we might need to do another
one. But yet after this year's one, I thought...
I don't know if we'll ever be able to top it.
So now you put the pressure on me that we're
going to have to make 2027 bigger and better
and more enthusiastic than even what we saw now.
Would you mind sharing? You had someone mentioned
to you that's been in peer in government for
30 plus years. What did they say to you about
this movement? They said that it's just an absolute
enigma. It's something that's never happened
before. It's all the people that have always
remained relatively quiet and not said anything.
And not only are they saying something right
now, but they're showing up. And then that keeps
growing and there's more of them. It's been noted
that there's never been a grassroots movement
like this take place in the state of South Dakota.
And I think that's just a testament to agriculture
overall in South Dakota. There's nothing more
important to farmers than number one, their family
and number two, their land. And they're willing
to do whatever it takes and it shows and it's
being noticed probably more than ever and I'm
optimistic that we're eventually going to straighten
this thing all out and everybody's going to be
able to go back home to work and get left alone
because that's what they desire. They're willing
to show up. just to be left alone. Absolutely,
and you know I think there's some career politicians
that kind of hoped that's what we would do after
the passage of HB 1052, which was of course a
nation -leading piece of legislation that officially
eliminated eminent domain for CO2 pipelines.
Now for the 160 family farms and ranches who
had been condemned for eminent domain for a Green
New Deal carbon sequestration boondoggle, it
was quite literally they were facing a gun to
their head. So the mood was somber. It was serious.
It was stressful. You could see the strain, the
emotional, physical, financial toll that so many
people had endured for so long. And, you know,
so coming into last year's session felt a little
different, right? Even after that was passed,
I think that the politicians thought, well, good,
they got their way. They'll go home. They'll
leave us alone. And yet that threat of eminent
domain, not for things like public use, like
electricity and railroads, the things that we
need, but the threat of eminent domain and the
seizure of your land for things like economic
development and increasing the tax base, it still
exists in South Dakota. And so I remember thinking
after 1052 was passed, man, we're still sitting
ducks here on the South Dakota Prairie. Some
politician somewhere could decide that my land
is worth. more in someone else's hands that quite
literally the land beneath our feet could still
be taken. And that's why I think we saw such
a huge crowd because South Dakota farmers and
ranchers and landowners recognize that threat.
And so I think what we're going to do next is
going to unite the entire state and the entire
nation is watching. And before we get into the
legislative announcements that you made at the
rally, I want to briefly talk about where we've
been. So 2023, you have all these landowners
getting condemned. And then we faced a 2024 legislative
session where a bill called SB 201 was introduced.
Talk to us a little bit about that bill because
I know we've talked privately amongst many landowners,
it might've been the best thing that's ever happened
to the people of South Dakota, not because it
was a good piece of legislation, but because
it activated the people to get involved and get
engaged. Talk to us a little bit about 201 and
how we got to now. Thank you so much for joining
us. It's interesting that you mentioned it might've
been one of the best things that ever happened
to us because that's in very fact true. It seemed
like the eminent domain filings were one that
captivated people. More people got involved because
it was that atrocious. 201 was similar in nature
and that was kind of the spark that ignited clear
across the state because now you took the focus
off of the pipeline route itself specifically,
and you included the entire state. just because
of the upheaval due to the county zoning ordinances
that were being systematically put in place along
the route. There was a lot of people didn't like
that. That didn't sit very well with the industry.
And so they came to the state and were able to
ramrod 201 through that the most egregious aspect
of 201 was the removal of local control from
the counties and the municipalities and the townships.
No longer were they able to make the decisions
for themselves. That all would have been centrally
located within our state government. And so that
led to the people getting involved, referring
that law. It connected the entirety of the state
corner to corner. They all worked together. They
collected 38 ,000 signatures in a matter of 90
days. They held the town hall meetings clear
across the state. I know you and myself participated
in many of them. So many great people did, Jim
Eschenbaum, Ed Fischbach, Julie Alck, Carlo Lems.
I mean, it was just absolutely amazing the way.
the people showed up, they got in their car,
they'd drive hundreds of miles to get involved.
And so that led to the overturning of 201 in
that election. It led to a turnover of many candidates.
We changed the makeup of our legislature, which
ultimately led to the passage of an unprecedented
bill of its kind, 1052 last session. And so,
you know, that's kind of, that gave us a lot
of peace at the time. It gave a lot of people
the ability to relax and go home and live their
lives. But it was quick to realize that with
the big, beautiful bill, when they tried to take
that authority away from the States now. So it
was almost like a national 201. And so that's
what kind of led us to where we're going to be
talking about today. And I think we're on the
right path because that threat is not gone the
same situation. that led to the problem with
some of carbon solutions still exists today.
Absolutely. And in fact, even after 1052 passed
and you're having states all across the country
contact you and myself and say, how did you guys
do this in South Dakota? How have you pushed
back against some of these projects? And so really,
it should have been like a crowning moment, right,
that we all could have went back to the farm
and ranch and just relaxed and took a sigh of
relief for one minute. And yet, like you said,
the big, beautiful bill came. There was a provision
within that big, beautiful bill that would have
allowed for federal eminent domain authority
for CO2 pipelines. There was another line within
the big, beautiful bill that would have given
a pay to play option. If you gave $10 million
in cash, you could fast track your permitting
process. Again, trampling on local control, trampling
on property rights, giving a one size fits all
rubber stamping process from the top down. to
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as soon as we were able to secure that those
lines were taken out of the big beautiful bill.
Then we had Congressman Dusty Johnson come out
with H .R. 4135, again, a bill that would have
fast tracked given a rubber stamp, one size fits
all from the federal level down for things like
data centers and CO2 pipelines. And so continually
we're seeing these little threats over and over
again. What was the third threat we saw throughout
The North Dakota Attorney General. threatened
to sue in the news, the state of South Dakota
over HB 1052. And I'm very thankful to our attorney
general, Marty Jackley, for stopping that in
its tracks. And so through all of these little
fights, we realized, you know, so many of us
that, man, we needed to do something in South
Dakota that would officially fortify and strengthen
property rights in a real and meaningful way
so that things like this, the hell that we've
all been through. never happens again in the
state of South Dakota. So that leads me to your
big announcement, Senator. You got up at the
podium that day. We had a great slate of speakers
from the Attorney General, Marty Jackley, to
Speaker Pro Tem, Carla Lambs. We had Representative
Liz May provide a statement. We had Senator Lauren
Nelson and Senator Michaela Voida. We had Charles
and Heather Maude, of course, who faced an egregious
attack on property rights over a fence line dispute
in Western South Dakota. our very own Jared Bosley,
who experienced the worst of the worst when a
$10 billion out -of -state foreign -backed carbon
pipeline project came onto his land and invasively
surveyed. Then you walked up to the podium and
you announced two very important bills. Let's
start with the first one, House Joint Resolution
5001. What is it and what does it do? Yes, that's
the two pieces that I announced. It was the house
joint resolution that I'll be prime sponsor of
in the Senate and my district mate and a really
good buddy, Spencer Gosh, representative Spencer
Gosh, will be priming it in the house. And what
we're going to do here is we're going to be proposing
a constitutional amendment that can be put up
for a vote of the people because we do not have
the authority as legislators, nor should we to
change the constitution. The constitution is
our foundation, fundamental document that sets
the baseline. It's the entire reason why we're
still standing today is in fact, because of those
constitutional rights. So it should not be easy
to mess with, nor should you do it very aggressively.
But I believe that property rights are part of
our Constitution, and I think it's an appropriate
manner to modernize them with the language. that
will prevent what has happened to us from ever
happening again. And so what that resolution
will do is it will be proposed to eminent domain
may not be exercised for the purpose of transferring
private property to a nongovernmental entity
solely to promote economic development or increase
tax revenue without the provision of public use,
purpose, or utility. And so what all that fancy
language ultimately means is it's an end of eminent
domain for private gain. It's only going to be
utilized as it was originally intent by the founding
fathers for public use. No more of these private
projects being able to utilize it. It is not
specific to CO2 pipelines. It is also inclusive
of wind and solar in the aspect of they will
not be able to take your land for that. It has
an element to it when it involves data centers.
the data center company would not be able to
condemn a site for their facility. They would
not be able to condemn property to put their
private infrastructure in to service said facilities.
This isn't just specific to rural areas and landowners
and farms and ranches. This has implications
within cities and urban areas as well. No longer
would a row of houses be able to be taken to
put up a strip mall. The big corporation next
door wouldn't be able to take the mom and pop
shop next door to build a parking lot. Because
ultimately, if you don't have that exclusive
ownership of your property, what's the incentive
to go about acquiring more and building and have
something to pass on? Because you got to remember
at the end of the day, we're all only here for
so long. And what do we all live for and strive
for with our South Dakota values is to provide
a better life for our children. And if we can
leave them with something that they can make
a better life for their family, that's our purpose
for being here. And this is going to be an act
that is going to help ensure that not just for
now, but hopefully forever. It's incredible.
I think it's such a necessary bill to bring forward
or resolution because it really answers the call
of the people. that many have suffered. We've
heard from every corner of the state of people
who are going through something similar and they're
not against projects, they're not against business,
but they want to have a say in their local communities
about where things go. They don't think it's
appropriate for these big billion dollar corporations
to get the red carpet rolled out at the expense
of themselves via their taxes or their land and
they just want to say to be able to firmly say
yes or no, thank you. Yes, I want to participate
in project. No, thank you. So a few questions
I've gotten, I'm sure you've gotten the most
common question I've gotten is what's the difference
between public use and public benefit? Because
we're talking about two different things here.
I think when the founding fathers had established
that, yes, number one, property rights are God
given and they should be protected under the
Constitution, they had no idea that there would
be things like data center infrastructure build
outs that people would have to think about. So
talk about what isn't included in this bill and
what would be excluded, I guess would be a better
way to answer it. Public use, public benefit.
So when you're talking about public use, probably
the best example that I can give is the interstate
system. That is readily available for every American
to utilize and use on a daily basis. You can
either travel freely down it yourself, or the
argument can be made that everything, the food
in your refrigerator, the clothes on your back.
travel down that interstate system that you can
purchase at a store. I mean, it's absolutely
imperative that we have that for our society.
That is the best clear -cut case of public use
that I can give. Now, a public benefit. This
all stems from the Kelo versus New London ruling
from 2005 that a public benefit was the term
that they allotted to a raising of the tax base.
Because if you have more money in the tax coffers,
you're able to build more roads, have better
funding for public safety and things of that
nature. However. That's not a public use, but
they claimed that beings, it was a public benefit.
It qualified as a public use. Now also it was
a split decision in the Kelo versus New London
ruling at five to four. And it also, there was
a paragraph in there that allows for states to
put more stringent regulations in place. And
so there are other states that about 20 years
ago put similar language to this and it has never
been challenged. And so. The public benefit just
does not hold water. the words in the Constitution
themselves were for public use. Now, you guys
have heard me mention this on the show, but that
Kelo versus New London case, if you want to learn
more about it, go watch The Little Pink House
on Amazon Prime. It's a free movie, but it's
based on the true story of a woman who lived
in a lower class, I would say, community, and
a Pfizer company wanted to come and build a manufacturing
facility in that community. And this woman lived
in a little pink house in town. That was her
piece of the American dream. That was her home
where she slept at night. And it was seized through
eminent domain. And ultimately, they didn't even
end up building. the project. And so whether
you live in the middle of city limits in Sioux
Falls, South Dakota, or you have a section of
ground out in Union Center, the reality is that
the use of eminent domain has been politicized
and distorted over time. And so what 5001 seeks
to do is not really change the Constitution,
but to fortify what's already in the Constitution
that has been diluted over time. So tell us the
process. Do we need the governor? How does this
get to the ballot? The way that this gets to
the ballot is representative gosh will be carrying
this bill in the House of Representatives. It
will be going through the House State Affairs
Committee that it will have a hearing. You'll
have proponent and opponent testimony. The committee
will ultimately vote on whether to pass it out
to the floor or not. I'm very optimistic that
we're going to see this on the floor. I've had
good response from fellow legislators that I've
spoken with already. And then the house, the
floor, the entirety of the house will vote on
it. Upon passage from the house, it will then...
travel over to the Senate chambers where I'll
be carrying it into the Senate State Affairs
Committee. We'll go through the same process.
We will have a hearing with proponent and opponent
testimony. We will then pass it out to the floor
on the Senate where we'll have a vote of the
entire body. upon passage of the Senate, it then
would be eligible to be placed on the ballot.
Now, that's a simple majority, correct? A simple
majority. It does not require a two thirds majority.
It also does not require a signature from the
governor. So us as legislators can exercise our
authority and pass this out and ultimately place
it on the ballot where the people that we work
for and are responsible and accountable to will
have the ultimate decision of whether this is
something that they want. or not. Now I appreciate
the legislators being able to put eyeballs on
this and and look it over from a legal perspective
but ultimately at the end of the I think it's
time for South Dakota citizens to have a say.
Do you think we should have the ability to use
eminent domain for private gain or not? Should
we abolish the egregious, abusive, predatory
behaviors of private companies at the expense
of the South Dakota citizens? I'm looking forward
to the citizens having their say on this once
and for all. I said in my rally speech, we can
either do this the easy way or we can do this
the hard way, meaning I hope and pray that the
legislature gets it right. And in fact, I'm confident
that they are going to vote to put this on the
ballot. However, If it doesn't get through the
House and the Senate, we are prepared and we
know we can do it to go get the 38 ,000 signatures
needed to get this on the ballot. Because I truly
believe it's that important that the people of
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driven Angus Bulls on the market. In fact, we're
seeing in Iowa right now, a similar bill to HB
1052 is currently on the floor being debated.
We've heard from what other states have we heard
from that are watching what this grassroots movement
has been able to accomplish here in South Dakota.
I'm north of 20 other states that have reached
out and contacted and shared ideas with back
and forth with them. And they ultimately asked
the question, how did you accomplish that in
South Dakota? And I said, well, number one is
perseverance. There was a lot of setbacks along
the way, but we kept going. I mean, I kind of
equated to it's 2 30 in the morning and you have
a heifer cabin and the snow is blowing and there's
mud underneath of the snow, but you have to get
out there and get after it. I mean, giving up
is not an option. And failure is not an option.
Correct. And so we ultimately just persevered
and stayed steadfast and saw it out. And they're
really looking because we've had a lot of big
wins along the way and we plan on keep going.
Cause quite frankly, we're just getting started
and the outreach has just been phenomenal. And
I think that leadership shows we heard it in
DC when we went this summer that people are really
looking to the state of South Dakota and you
know, it's taken not just the grassroots getting
involved in doing signatures, but also many in
the grassroots, yourself included, deciding to
run for office. So South Dakota citizens, if
you're on the right side of history here and
you're looking at what's happening again, I can
tell you that if we lose the legislature, if
we lose the House and the Senate. 1052 will be
the first thing that's targeted. And so if you
feel in your heart, if God's calling you to public
service, now is a good time to think about it
and reach out to Mark or myself or anybody else
that could help you. We'd be happy to coach you
along and get you engaged in the process. But
we have grassroots members signing up to be precinct
members, volunteering on the campaign trail,
even just the little things. I've always said
that everybody contributes their time, talent
and treasures to this. There's no egos involved
here. This is just good everyday citizens realizing
that this is, as I've said to you many times,
this is our cows are out moment, which if you're
in farming and ranching, you know what that means.
If the cows are out, it means get going and get
to work. And that's where we are at right now
in this battle for our property rights, which
leads me to the next bill that you introduced.
You're calling it the Bosley bill. Tell us about
SB 88. Well, SB 88 is a bill that is going to
clarify surveying with without permission by
a entity that has the vested interest of eminent
domain, as well as a active application in front
of our state PUC. The way that this process all
came about was the surveying law, that statute
that we had in place since about 2016, led to
the incident at the Jared Bosley farm. Now I
myself was personally there that day and it quite
possibly was the worst thing that I experienced
in the entire process. The amount of strife that
his family has been through because of that is
just absolutely abhorrent. And we sought out
relief and peer to get that law changed at the
time. We're unsuccessful. We had to go hire our
own attorney. A large collective of landowners
spent three years in the court system and spent
hundreds of thousands of dollars to ultimately
end up in front of our state Supreme court where
we realized justice. It wasn't a close decision.
It was a unanimous decision that rendered the
invasive style tactics for surveying were ruled
unconstitutional. Now mind you, not to interrupt
you, but I want to take people back. If you haven't
heard Jared Bosley's story before, this company
showed up with armed security guards. They surrounded
the farm. They call it the invasion, really.
They were in his shop. They were in his house
while his wife was alone in the shower. They
were in the kitchen. They opened up gates for
the feedlots. They trampled over trees and killed
those trees in the shelter belt. They drove into
the field and bore a 90 -foot hole for what was
supposed to to be a four foot deep carbon pipeline.
So when we're talking, they came to survey. They
weren't putting out a few flags. They were invading
and surveying in a way that was damaging and
a violation really. And the South Dakota Supreme
Court agreed with a unanimous decision, which
leads to the Bosley bill. There was a bill that
was passed into law. It was carried by Casey
Crabtree and Will Mortenson called 1185. What
did 1185 do? 1185 was very similar in nature
to the previous statute. However, it included
a $500 payment that was required, which is what
I'll be removing from the bill because a taking
of that nature compensation has to be established
by a jury of your peers. The state has no right
to determine what you produce or what you have
is worth, as well as it still included the invasive
style surveying, the trenching, the boring, the
drilling. things of that nature. And per the
Supreme Court's ruling, the only thing that can
be accessed without permission is a basic general
walk around, minor soil disturbances, sticking
a shovel in the dirt, things of that nature.
And so this bill is going to align with what
we have as very good guidance from a unanimous
ruling by our Supreme Court with that ruling.
And then that's the surveying law that will stay
in place. It will still require an application
with the PUC. It will still require notice, the
landowner getting notice and things of that nature.
But we just want to simply realign it with the
guidance that we have from the Supreme court.
Because what took place out at the Bosley ranch
that day should never happen in South Dakota
again. Number one, we don't treat our neighbors
like that. And we sure don't treat our friends
or families like that. And for any South Dakotan
to want to see that perpetuated upon somebody
is just... terrible and it can never happen again.
And I've affectionately coined it the Bosley
bill, because throughout this process, Jared's
become such a dear friend of mine. We grew up
competitors in high school sports. Jared and
I are the same age and we spent a lot of time
throwing elbows at each other. Quite frankly,
we didn't get along very, and so it's just been
very satisfying in life to connect at a later
point in our lives and become just absolute best
friends. Well, and this, This pair of bills really
is about righting some of the wrongs, including
the wrongs that were done to Jared Bosley. But
it's about every South Dakotan to make sure that
your piece of the American dream is really yours
and it can't be seized against your will. And,
you know, as I opened in my rally speech, I had
said, you know, it is such a blessing to, it's
not a thing to say it's a blessing when you've
gone through hell and back. really the people
of South Dakota have suffered greatly at the
hands of companies that have behaved not South
Dakota nice. But the blessing is getting to meet
so many wonderful people from every corner of
the state who really have a heart for this country
and for family and for neighbors and their communities
and the land. But these people have become family.
And so that's why, you know, it's interesting
that rally, if I look at it, we didn't have just
one agitator. We had two agitators that wanted
to run up to the podium and steal the show. We
had Capitol Police on hand because it wouldn't
be a property rights rally without some agitators.
We've had them over the years, more than one.
But we also had some comments that were made
after the rally. At the end of my speech, I had
referenced that Congressman Dusty Johnson had
called landowners and farmers and ranchers who
simply had questions. about projects like data
centers coming into their communities. In a speech
at the Sioux Falls Greater Chamber of Commerce,
Dusty Johnson had called people like you and
I and so many others on American bananas, build
absolutely nothing anywhere near anything, NIMBYs
not in my backyard, and he even went so far as
to say that we are a disease. I had mentioned
that without naming names in my speech. Hub City
radio picked it up after the event and our buddy
Scott Sundberg had the congressman on his show
and he was quick to dismiss it. And in fact,
he had said, well, I think Amanda Radke was over
her skis a little bit with those statements.
And I had the opportunity to go on the show as
well. And I'm going to provide the links to those
interviews and the show notes, because I really
think. people should see what the attitudes are
about everyday citizens of South Dakota who simply
want to have a conversation and want to have
a say about their land, about their livelihood,
about the farm and ranch that like you and I
and so many others have poured our blood, sweat
and tears. And so my message to the congressman
and any of these other politicians who find the
farmers and ranchers who come to peer in their
plaid shirts and their blue jeans and want to
say in the decisions that are made here at the
Capitol, You know, my message is I'm not over
my skis. I'm solidly on the South Dakota soil
where I belong and I don't like a bully. And
so my message to the landowners and the farmers
and ranchers who are listening to this who I
know and I love because I'm one of you, as I'll
never back down from a bully. I'll never back
down from a fight. I know Senator Lopke won't
either. And together, we are stronger than ever
before. We are just getting started. South Dakota
is leading the way and fortifying your property
rights from now until eternity. And the next
steps begin with this legislative session. So
finally. I want to talk about a mechanism that
you can do to follow along in the process to
get updates on the committee hearings. What committee
is the Bosley bill headed to? The Bosley bill
will be headed to the Senate Commerce and Energy
Committee. And things are going to happen pretty
fast, right? You anticipate that both bills will
be coming very shortly. I would say within the
next week, we will be having our first committee
hearings for both of the bills. Yes. So I'm pleased
to announce that we do have tools and resources
available to you, the listener that will allow
you to get updates on the committee hearings,
when it's time to testify, when it's time to
contact your legislators, when it will be going
to the floor. Maybe if we have to start collecting
signatures, I don't know, but that mechanism
is a new website that was announced. alongside
the rally. It's called American Land and Legacy.
I'm proud to be a part of that organization,
along with Senator Lobke and our board member,
Jay Point Dexter. We realized that there needed
to be a tool for the landowners to get engaged,
to stay involved in the process and to be all
headed in the same direction. And so americanlandandlegacy
.org is the website you can go check out. We'll
have text and email updates, ways that you can
pitch in and donate to the cause and stay active
and engaged. engaged and informed and I'm pleased
to say that not only Is this going to serve the
state of South Dakota? But I have gotten so many
calls from across the country, from all the way
from Maryland to California and everywhere in
between. They're facing property rights battles
too. And they're saying, can you help? So if
you're listening all the way across the country,
yes, we can help. We want to hear your story.
We want to know what's going on across the country.
And the best way to connect is to go sign up
for updates and shoot us a message at americanlandandlegacy
.org. Senator, we're running up to the show time,
but is there anything else you'd like to add
as we kick off this legislative session, as you
get back to work in peer and a message to the
listeners of what's ahead? Well, I guess the
first thing that I'd like to do is, you know,
invite everybody down to come to peer, participate
in your government, see how it works, walk the
halls, sit in on committee meetings, watch the
floor session. And if you're unable to do that,
we have this wonderful website provided for us
by our legislative. Research Council, South Dakota,
or SDLegislative .gov. And you can view all the
committees there. New for this year, we've got
not only audio, but video as well in every committee
room. So that adds a lot more to it. It's amazing
how many people utilize that and watch that.
And so just, you know, pay attention, call your
legislators, stay in touch with them. You got
to remember at the end of the day, we work for
you. That's the appropriate structure of things.
And that's how I serve. Absolutely. Well, I'm
proud to say that Senator Lopke is here. He is
the only farmer rancher in the Senate. And I
mentioned, I guess maybe we should close. Probably
not a lot of people know, but I mentioned the
plaid shirt deal. Tell me about the first time
you showed up to peer in your plaid shirt and
your work jeans. What happened that day? Well,
unfortunately, I remember it like yesterday because
it kind of left its imprint. It was January 15th
of two thousand and twenty three. Myself, with
about 30 other landowners from across the state,
decided to show up and appear. And we had a bill
that the time freshman legislator, Representative
Carla Lemsbaugh, eleven thirty three. And so
we had a lobby day. It was kind of an idea that
was originated by former Representative Dennis
Fike. former Brown County Commissioner and he
had been down here and he kind of taught us the
ropes. So we showed up not knowing what we were
going to do and you want to talk about feeling
like a fish out of water. I'm used to being in
car hard coveralls chasing cows around in January.
So what did you do? We put on our, our good clothes,
you know, a pair of blue jeans, your cowboy boots
and a plaid shirt. You know, that's our normal
attire. And so we showed up and we had a lot
of conversations that day. Some good, some not
so good, but you also got the sentiment that
you really weren't welcome there. And I guess
I probably was rather naive at the time because
I always thought it was a government of the people,
by the people, for the people. But the people
really weren't wanted. There was a lot of chastising
in the media by lobbyists that felt that we were
ruining decorum and disrespecting the institution.
And I guess I think that is just completely backwards.
And so, you know, they said farmers were dressed
in plaid shirts, were walking up and down the
hallways, harassing legislators. And I guess
I can tell you we've always been. complimented
about how respectful of a manner we've acted
in. So it couldn't have been farther from the
truth, but it was definitely a day that I'll
never forget. And it left an impression. And
it left an impression on so many as well. And
so as we close the show today, I just want to
thank every farmer and rancher who finds a way
to leave home with all the chores and everything
else you have going on and goes to the Capitol,
no matter what state you're in and advocates
for our way of life. Because at the end of the
day, there are politicians who don't know anything
about a... sow, plow or cowl, right? They've
never ridden a tractor. They've never had their,
they've never had to calve out cows. They don't
know. And yet they're making decisions on your
behalf. Every legislative session, they are making
laws and policies that ultimately determine how
you get to operate your land and your livestock
as you see fit. And they're even so far as to
go, and we've seen it here in South Dakota, that
they're willing to even strip away your property
rights like they believe they can give. and take
away, which they cannot. But without your vigilance,
without you paying attention, without you getting
involved, you can't be sorry at the results.
But I'm here to say in South Dakota, we're gonna
own the conversation. The landowners are here.
They're better than stronger than ever. Keep
watching. We're just getting started. Go sign
up to americanlandandlegacy .com. And Senator
Lobke, thanks for all you do here in the Capitol.
Thank you, Amanda. While I've got you here, I
would love to invite you to check out my website,
amandaradkey .com. Each week I share my column,
this podcast, and new items to shop for farm
and ranch families, including my children's books
that celebrate agriculture. Use code dusty trail
to save 15 % on your next purchase. Thank you
from the bottom of my heart for supporting my
small business and for your continued support
and keeping me on the road. fighting for farm
and ranch families. I'm thankful to each and
every one of you who tune into this show each
week. New episodes drop every Wednesday, so be
sure to subscribe, share, and leave a review
to let me know how you're liking the content
and our guests. Until the next time we meet on
the dusty trail, I'm Amanda Radke and this is
the heart of rural America.