The Heart of Rural America

Amanda Radke
  • 4.9 (46)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Weekly

Welcome to the Heart of Rural America podcast. I’m your host, Amanda Radke ​-- a South Dakota cattle rancher, wife, mom of four, children’s book author, and motivational speaker. I started this show with a simple goal in mind -- to share the untold stories of the often-overlooked independent farmer and rancher. On this program, We’ll discuss the challenges that face rural America and the anti-animal agriculture agenda that seeks to eliminate our way of life. But in the face of these ongoing battles, we’ll explore impactful solutions and meaningful pathways to profitability in order to keep producers on the land, to safeguard our private property rights, and to keep meat, dairy, and eggs on the dinner table. And in stark contrast to the ugly, divisive headlines in today’s mainstream media, "The Heart of Rural America" will celebrate the faith, family values, patriotism, and work ethic of the incredible people I meet in my travels as an agricultural speaker. I hope you’ll be inspired by these agricultural entrepreneurs and rural families, just as I am. Now let’s hit the dusty trail together as we uncover The Heart of Rural America. - Amanda

  1. 1d ago

    Pushing Back Against Attacks On Your Property Rights with Mindy Patterson

    Takeaways Most fights over animal ownership are decided at the local and state level, so tracking bills and showing up to hearings matters more than waiting on Congress.Bans often pass in places with little or no affected industry because supporters want a precedent they can cite in the next city or state.Mindy Patterson argues that animal cruelty is already a felony in all 50 states, so the better answer is enforcing existing law rather than writing new ones.Building relationships with lawmakers and educating them about what you do works better than showing up angry, because many decision makers have never seen a cow.Summary of the Episode In this episode of Heart of Rural America, Amanda Radke welcomes back Mindy Patterson, president and founder of The Cavalry Group, an organization that works to protect constitutional property rights related to animal ownership. Mindy starts with news out of New York City, where the city council voted to ban horse drawn carriages in Central Park, with the ban set to take effect June 1, 2028. She walks through the language in the ordinance, including limits on what owners can do with their licensed horses. From there, Amanda and Mindy explain why this matters far beyond New York. Mindy describes carriage bans that have already passed in Florida and Salt Lake City, pending proposals in Texas cities, and a list of bans on working animals, rodeos, pony rides, and petting zoos across 29 states and 63 municipalities. They talk about how supporters use emotional stories and redefine terms like humane treatment and animal husbandry to move bills forward, and why Mindy believes the answer is enforcing the animal cruelty laws already on the books. The conversation turns practical. Mindy shares how The Cavalry Group monitors legislation in all 50 states, trains members to testify, and shows up in force, including a win against a Maryland bill targeting kangaroos and zebras. Amanda shares her own first experience testifying, and both hosts encourage listeners to get to know their lawmakers, ask where they stand, and educate them on agriculture. Mindy also reports back from the Kirkpatrick Foundation animal conference in Oklahoma City. The episode closes with a heads up on a federal bill Amanda is watching, a call to vote with the Constitution in mind, and a reminder to share the show. To follow the legislation Mindy is tracking or to become a member, visit thecavalrygroup.com. Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Ambrook Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksEnjoy a free month of Ambrook with code RADKE at www.ambrook.com

    Pushing Back Against Attacks On Your Property Rights with Mindy Patterson

  2. Oct 21

    How to Raise Faith-Filled Kids in a World Going the Opposite Direction: 10 Lessons From a Ranch Mom

    Takeaways Children are not an interruption to your purpose, they are your purpose. Amanda Radke shares how a conversation with her priest reshaped the way she balances business, travel, and speaking with her role as a wife and mother of four.Resilient, faith-filled kids are built through everyday habits: family dinners without phones, meaningful chores and real responsibility, time outdoors connected to the land, and parents who live out their faith where kids can see it.Raise courageous adults, not comfortable ones. Teaching kids to think critically, to ask "Is this true?" and "Who benefits if I believe this?", prepares them to stand firm in a culture full of noise, fake news, and AI.Summary of the Episode In this solo episode of The Heart of Rural America, host Amanda Radke steps away from cattle markets and policy to talk about what she calls the most important work in agriculture: raising the next generation. A South Dakota rancher, entrepreneur, and mother of four, Amanda shares ten lessons she has learned, and is still learning, about motherhood, faith, and family life in a culture that increasingly pushes comfort over conviction. Amanda counts down, starting with the idea that children are her purpose, not a distraction from it. She covers why the family dinner table is a powerful discipleship tool, why kids need responsibility more than entertainment, and how the land teaches patience, resilience, stewardship, and gratitude. She also speaks from personal experience as a former foster parent and adoptive mother about how families can step into hard places to serve vulnerable children. The second half of the episode focuses on character and conviction. Amanda explains why she wants to raise courageous kids instead of comfortable ones, how to teach children discernment with practical questions they can ask about every message they hear, and why faith is caught more than it is taught. She closes with a challenge to build intentional family traditions and to remember that the children we influence are the legacy we carry into eternity. Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksLearn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-businessResources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

    How to Raise Faith-Filled Kids in a World Going the Opposite Direction: 10 Lessons From a Ranch Mom

  3. Oct 7

    Beef, Basketball, Discipline & WINNING with 76ers Dean Wade

    Takeaways Dean Wade explains how cutting fast food and processed food took him from 8 to 9 percent body fat down to 4.5 percent in a single season, with no change to his workouts.Dean and Chris Earl connect what it takes to survive as an undrafted NBA player to what it takes to survive in the cattle business right now: discipline over motivation, a team of doers, and a refusal to quit.Dean shares why he is already planning a life after basketball in Kansas and how Angus genetics and Bid on Beef fit into that plan. In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, Amanda Radke goes boots on the ground at Rocking R Ranch in New Mexico for customer appreciation day with return guest Chris Earl of CK6 Consulting, Bid on Beef, and All American Angus Beef. Chris brings along his longtime friend Dean Wade, a Kansas native and new addition to the Philadelphia 76ers, for a conversation about beef, athletic performance, and rural roots. Dean opens up about growing up in a small Kansas farm community, going undrafted, and building a seven-year NBA career on defense, nutrition, and daily habits. He explains how a wake-up call in his early NBA years pushed him away from fast food, how a home-cooked, beef-centered diet helped him drop his body fat without changing his training, and why Bid on Beef gives his family consistent, high-quality steak delivered to the door. Chris ties Dean's underdog story to the challenges facing cattle producers today, arguing that the ranchers who keep showing up on the toughest days are the ones who win. The conversation closes with Dean's plans for after basketball, including land in Kansas and a growing interest in Angus genetics, plus a lighthearted debate over favorite cuts and how to cook them. Amanda wraps with a reminder to keep fighting for this way of life, for yourself and for the next generation. Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksLearn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-businessResources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

    Beef, Basketball, Discipline & WINNING with 76ers Dean Wade

  4. Sep 23

    How a National Monument Put a Sixth-Generation Arizona Ranch in Limbo

    Takeaways A national monument designation can leave ranchers in limbo for years. Chris Heaton explains how a 2023 proclamation listing drainages and grasslands as protected "objects" left his family unable to get straight answers on maintaining stock ponds or adding new water improvements.The Heatons' federal lawsuit with Pacific Legal Foundation was dismissed for lack of standing, but they are weighing a refile or an appeal, and their bigger goal is to fix the Antiquities Act so no president can lock up millions of acres on their own.Submitting your story to the USDA lawfare portal can lead somewhere. The Heatons filled it out with low expectations and were invited to Washington, D.C., where they met with Secretary Brooke Rollins and her team and told their story at a press event and on News Nation.Summary of the Episode In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, host Amanda Radke welcomes back Chris and Cassie Heaton, sixth-generation cattle ranchers who live in Kanab, Utah, and run a cow-calf operation on the Arizona Strip, just north of the Grand Canyon. When they first joined the show, a federal national monument designation was putting their grazing and water rights at risk. This time they share what has happened since, from a federal lawsuit to a trip to the nation's capital. Chris walks through how the designation unfolded, starting with public hearings in Flagstaff and Kingman in 2023 and the decision to exclude their private ground from the final monument. He explains why the proclamation worries him: it lists drainages and grasslands as objects to protect, their stock ponds sit inside those drainages, and the Department of the Interior told him that what they can and cannot do is up to interpretation. With help from Pacific Legal Foundation, the Heatons sued in February 2024. The case was recently dismissed for lack of standing, and they are now working with their legal team on whether to refile or appeal, with the ultimate goal of fixing the Antiquities Act. After the change in administration, the Heatons submitted their story through the USDA lawfare portal, not expecting a response. At the end of June, Secretary Rollins' office invited them to Washington, and on July 1 they met with the Secretary, her team, and Representative Eli Crane, shared their story at a press event, and appeared on News Nation. Amanda shares her own experience at the White House supper honoring farmers and ranchers, and her fight against a carbon pipeline near her ranch, as she and the Heatons talk about why speaking up matters even when it is uncomfortable. Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksLearn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-businessResources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

    How a National Monument Put a Sixth-Generation Arizona Ranch in Limbo

  5. Sep 9

    How Laura Wilson Turned a Tractor Cab Video Into a Six-Year Media Career

    Pre-Order Laura's book: https://bravebooks.us/products/rogers-hay-day?srsltid=AfmBOorOdGgK8CQcJj3-cmdUUpff1fkL-fswYbQGRo6uFtsGOI_7M1O3 Check out Laura on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LauraFarms Takeaways: Laura Wilson explains how Laura Farms started in April 2020 when she propped her iPhone in her tractor cab during planting season, and how that first video's viral moment turned into six and a half years of content and a real revenue stream for her farm.Laura breaks down the practical side of building a farm-based media brand: her weekly YouTube posting schedule, hiring a part-time editor, filming everything on an iPhone with DJI mics, and the brand partnerships, like her multi-year relationship with Chief Industries, that now help pay down her land debt.Laura and Amanda talk about her new children's book, Roger's Hay Day, published with Brave Books and distributed through a partnership with FFA, releasing October 9 and designed to plant a love of agriculture and reading in the next generation.In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, host Amanda Radke sits down with Laura Wilson, a fifth-generation Nebraska farmer and the creator of the YouTube channel Laura Farms. Laura explains that her channel started almost by accident in April 2020, when COVID sent everyone home and she propped her iPhone in the corner of her tractor cab to document planting her first crop as an official partner in her family's operation. The video went viral, and what began as a way to give homeschooling families a window into rural life has grown into six and a half years of content across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and more. Laura and Amanda dig into the entrepreneurial side of farming: how Laura started with a $100,000 beginning farmer loan from the FSA at 18 years old, backed by little more than babysitting money and a dirt bike, and how brand partnerships like her multi-year relationship with Chief Industries have become what she calls her off-farm job, helping her pay down land debt and stay a full-time farmer. She shares her simple production process, an iPhone, a couple of DJI mics, a part-time editor who has freed up 15 hours a week, and pushes back hard on the excuse that people don't have time to share their own story: how you spend your days is how you spend your life. Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksLearn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-businessResources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

    How Laura Wilson Turned a Tractor Cab Video Into a Six-Year Media Career

  6. Aug 26

    Senator Mike Rounds on Trump's Imported Beef Announcement

    Takeaways Senator Mike Rounds calls President Trump's plan to import 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef "disappointing," warning it sends the wrong signal to a cattle market that has finally started rewarding producers after the smallest U.S. cow herd in 70 years.Rounds breaks down the RANC Act, a bipartisan bill with Senator Amy Klobuchar that would pay landowners the county average rental rate to put marginal cropland back into grass for 10 to 15 years, capped at 20 million acres nationwide, in an effort to rebuild the national cow herd.Mandatory country of origin labeling finally has a real path forward. Rounds confirms Senator Thune got it included in the farm bill moving through the Senate Agriculture Committee, more than a decade after producers first started pushing for it.In this special episode of the "Heart of Rural America," host Amanda Radke sits down with Senator Mike Rounds at the Casey Tibbs Heritage Center in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, right after a one hour roundtable discussion with cattle producers from across the state. The conversation centers on President Trump's surprise announcement to buy 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef, and Rounds does not mince words about it, calling it disappointing and warning that it undercuts an America First message at the exact moment cow-calf operators are finally turning a profit. Rounds and Radke dig into why beef prices are up in the first place: the American cow herd is the smallest it has been in 70 years, and rebuilding it means ranchers have to hold back heifers instead of selling them, a multi-year commitment with no fast fix. That leads into a detailed breakdown of the Ranch Act, Rounds' bipartisan proposal with Senator Amy Klobuchar to pay landowners to convert marginal cropland back into grass for 10 to 15 years, with a second payment available from whoever grazes the land. The two also cover the recent reopening of the Mexico border to cattle imports, packer consolidation, and the progress mandatory country of origin labeling has made inside the farm bill after more than a decade of advocacy. Presented by Bid On Beef | CK6 Consulting Services Inc. | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Ambrook | Redmond Real Salt | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Try a one-month trial with Ambrook for free here: ambrook.com/radkeCheck out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksLearn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-businessReport an issue with the USDA Lawfare portal: https://www.usda.gov/lawfareJoin the property rights fight at American Land & Legacy. at www.americanlandandlegacy.org

    Senator Mike Rounds on Trump's Imported Beef Announcement

  7. Aug 20

    Inside CK6 Consulting's Musgrave, Rhoades, and Genetic Allies Sale Season Preview

    NEW EPISODE of the "Heart of Rural America" featuring Amanda Radke & Chris Earl, recorded on Aug. 15 at Reverse Rocking R Ranch, Maxwell, NM. Topics of discussion: In part one, Chris and Amanda talk about three exciting sales offering elite Angus genetics including: - Aug. 29: Musgrave Angus - Sept. 5: Rhoades Ranch - Sept. 12: CK6 Genetic Allies at Edgar Brothers In part two, they unpack some of the biggest challenges in the beef cattle business today: - Market consolidation, facilities closing & the 85% monopoly holding the industry captive - Amanda's recent trips to Washington, D.C. to visit with the Trump administration and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins - Truth in labeling, MCOOL, Substantial Transformation Part three ends on a positive note, as they offer some words of encouragement for the American cattle rancher on: - Leverage - Entrepreneurship - Marketing - Paving the way - Building relationships with your customers - Standing for the truth & living by your faith Presented by Bid On Beef | CK6 Consulting Services Inc. | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Ambrook | Redmond Real Salt | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle Listen to Steve Stratford's CATTLE CHAT here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Cattle-CHAT-100068146624164/ Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Try a one-month trial with Ambrook for free here: ambrook.com/radke Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksLearn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-businessReport an issue with the USDA Lawfare portal: https://www.usda.gov/lawfare Join the property rights fight at American Land & Legacy. at www.americanlandandlegacy.org

    Inside CK6 Consulting's Musgrave, Rhoades, and Genetic Allies Sale Season Preview

  8. Aug 12

    100 Years on the Range, Then the State Came Knocking: Casey Murph's Fight for His Family's Ranch

    Takeaways Casey Murph explains how Orsted, a Denmark-based wind and solar conglomerate, applied to take over the Arizona state grazing allotment his family has ranched for more than 100 years, and why he refused to give the company access through his private land.Casey makes the case that a full transition to renewable energy is not physically possible, pointing to the Nature Conservancy's Power of Place report, and argues for nuclear power and rooftop or parking lot solar instead of converting working rangeland.Amanda and Casey break down what any landowner can actually do when a company or government agency comes after their land: get educated, get local, get loud on social media, and don't wait for Washington to fix it for you.Summary of the Episode In this episode of The Heart of Rural America, Amanda Radke sits down with Casey Murph, a cow-calf rancher in Navajo County, Arizona, whose family has run cattle on the same range since before Arizona was a state. Casey explains that since Governor Katie Hobbs took office in 2022 and created a task force to fast-track state land for renewable energy development, he has received repeated notices that solar companies have applied to take over parts of his grazing allotment. The company he's most concerned about is Orsted, a global wind and solar conglomerate based in Denmark and partially owned by the Danish government, which reached out asking for access through his private land to reach the isolated state ground behind his gate. Casey said no. Casey and Amanda walk through what that process looks like, the leverage he does and doesn't have, and why his cousins across the river already lost most of their ranch to a similar project. They also get into the bigger picture: why Casey believes the renewable energy transition as currently pitched is mathematically impossible, why nuclear and urban rooftop solar make more sense than converting rangeland, and why he thinks every rancher facing something like this needs to get on social media and tell their story, even if they'd rather not be in front of a camera. Presented by Bid on Beef | CK6 Consulting | CK6 Source | Real Tuff Livestock Equipment | Redmond RealSalt | Dirt Road Radio | All American Angus Beef | Radke Land & Cattle Use code RADKE for $10 off your next All American Angus Beef order at www.BidOnBeef.comSave on Redmond Real Salt with code RADKE at https://shop.redmondagriculture.com/Check out Amanda's agricultural children's books here: https://amandaradke.com/collections/amandas-booksLearn more about Bulletproofing Your Direct-To-Consumer Beef Enterprise: https://amandaradke.com/products/bulletproof-your-beef-businessResources for producers: the USDA Law Fair website and americanlandandlegacy.org

    100 Years on the Range, Then the State Came Knocking: Casey Murph's Fight for His Family's Ranch
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4.9
out of 5
46 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Heart of Rural America podcast. I’m your host, Amanda Radke ​-- a South Dakota cattle rancher, wife, mom of four, children’s book author, and motivational speaker. I started this show with a simple goal in mind -- to share the untold stories of the often-overlooked independent farmer and rancher. On this program, We’ll discuss the challenges that face rural America and the anti-animal agriculture agenda that seeks to eliminate our way of life. But in the face of these ongoing battles, we’ll explore impactful solutions and meaningful pathways to profitability in order to keep producers on the land, to safeguard our private property rights, and to keep meat, dairy, and eggs on the dinner table. And in stark contrast to the ugly, divisive headlines in today’s mainstream media, "The Heart of Rural America" will celebrate the faith, family values, patriotism, and work ethic of the incredible people I meet in my travels as an agricultural speaker. I hope you’ll be inspired by these agricultural entrepreneurs and rural families, just as I am. Now let’s hit the dusty trail together as we uncover The Heart of Rural America. - Amanda

Information

  • Creator
    Amanda Radke
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    167
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Amanda Radke 2023
  • Show Website
    The Heart of Rural America

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