The Heart of Rural America

Amanda Radke

168 episodes listed below

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Ranch-country stories with a backbone.

The gist

The Heart of Rural America follows Amanda Radke through conversations with farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, lawmakers, and rural people. It mixes practical talk about beef, livestock, retail, motherhood, and direct sales with blunt arguments about land, liberty, and keeping producers on the land.

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About The Heart of Rural America

The Heart of Rural America treats agriculture as a way of life, a business, and a political battleground. Amanda Radke hosts with the energy of someone moving between the ranch, the road, the retail table, and the microphone. The show’s interviews often begin with something concrete. Salt blocks. Beef cuts. A nap-time recording with a working mother. A bull sale. A legislative fight in Pierre or Washington, D.C. From there, the conversation usually widens. Practical details become evidence for a bigger case about faith, family, country, cattle, private property, and rural endurance. The show is especially clear when it talks about landowner rights and pipeline disputes. Guests such as Mark Lapka, Jon Hansen, and Karla Lems appear in episodes framed around South Dakota resistance to government overreach and forced access to land. Those segments are direct, emotional, and openly political. Other episodes soften the edges without changing the worldview. Courtney Coughlin’s replay moves through motherhood, creativity, farm retail, and the chaos of keeping multiple small businesses alive. Karson Rippstein’s Redmond Real Salt episode turns cattle nutrition and consumer questions into a funny, useful look at selling beef directly to families. Even sponsor spots feel woven into the same ecosystem, with Bid on Beef, All-American Angus Beef, children’s books, columns, and ranch sales all reinforcing the show’s farm-and-ranch economy. The tone is warm but sturdy. It welcomes stories, but it also wants action. It likes underdogs, local knowledge, and people who can explain a hard issue in plain words. Listeners looking for detached policy analysis may find it too openly committed. Those who want rural advocacy from inside cattle country will understand the appeal quickly. The Heart of Rural America is not simply about agriculture as an industry. It is about the families, fights, faith, and daily work behind the food system it champions.

Made for: The show suits listeners interested in cattle ranching, direct-to-consumer beef, rural entrepreneurship, South Dakota politics, property rights, and faith-forward agriculture advocacy. It is especially geared toward people who prefer plainspoken interviews over polished studio distance.

What sets it apart: The show stands apart by blending practical farm-business conversation with unapologetic rural political advocacy. A product chat, family-business story, or guest interview can quickly become a larger argument about land, liberty, and keeping producers on the land.

In their own words

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 produ...

As heard by us

Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026

The Heart of Rural America connects agricultural enterprise to the policy fights, customer education, and family labor that shape it.

Amanda Radke treats rural enterprise as a business shaped as much by property law and public policy as by cattle, customers, and costs. Her conversations move between South Dakota legislative fights, direct-to-consumer beef sales, livestock nutrition, and the daily mechanics of…

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

A cattle rancher walks you from salt blocks to statehouse battles without changing boots.

Press play if you want

Amanda Radke's firsthand take on how South Dakota property-rights fights move through the legislature
ranch-business talk that gets specific about direct beef sales, livestock nutrition, and the garlic-block question

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

cattle ranchingdirect-to-consumer beefproperty rightspipeline disputesrural entrepreneurshipfarm and ranch family lifeSouth Dakota politicsfaith, family, country, and cattle

Talks about

Business & Finance Agriculture

Best episodes of The Heart of Rural America

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

Redmond Real Salt for People & Livestock with Karson RippsteinApr 15, 2026

A plainspoken look at cattle care, beef sales, and the work of making them pay.

This episode stays close to the work of direct to consumer beef: caring for cattle, explaining the product, and helping customers understand what they are buying.

Battling Washington DC’s Overreach with SD Senator Mark Lapka [REPLAY]Apr 8, 2026

A forceful rural-politics replay with real stakes for landowners.

This segment keeps its footing in a familiar rural-politics fight: private-property rights, federal permitting, and CO2 pipelines in South Dakota.

Stand Your Ground with SD Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, Speaker Pro Tem Karla Lems & Senator Mark Lapka [REPLAY]Apr 1, 2026

A rural statehouse fight over property rights, told from a clear pro-landowner angle.

The Heart of Rural America frames a South Dakota legislative fight through property rights, constitutional limits, and pipeline pressure. Amanda Radke hosts from a firmly advocacy-minded rural angle, and the guests explain why the mediation bill felt like a threat to landowners…

Motherhood, Entrepreneurship, & Juggling The Chaos Of It All with Courtney Coughlin [REPLAY]Mar 25, 2026

A grounded rural business conversation about work, family, and keeping things moving.

This conversation treats rural entrepreneurship as work, not branding. It shifts from cattle and ag education into the day-to-day grind of keeping a small business moving while motherhood, shipping, customer service, and inventory all land at once, which gives it a plainspoken,…

South Dakota Property Rights Rally: A Fight for Freedom and FamilyJan 21, 2026

A South Dakota property-rights rally that reads as a plainspoken call to vote, stay involved, and keep fighting.

The piece centers a South Dakota property rights rally and treats it as a direct call to defend individual rights and stay engaged. It moves steadily from thanks to urgency, with the speaker pressing for voting, following the issues, supporting the effort, and taking up the…

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About The Heart of Rural America

In their own words

As heard by us

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Best episodes of The Heart of Rural America

Podcasts like The Heart of Rural America

Episodes

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

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

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

Senator Mike Rounds on Trump's Imported Beef Announcement

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

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

Why Your "No" Has to Be a No: Fanchon Stinger on Discerning God's Voice

10 Ways to Build Wealth, Opportunity, and Legacy in Rural America

Homesteading for Beginners: How to Raise Food, Teach Kids, and Build a Self-Sufficient Life

SD Property Rights Discussion Part 2 Featuring Governor Larry Rhoden | Hosted by American Land & Legacy

SD Property Rights Discussion Part 1 Featuring Toby Doeden | Hosted by American Land & Legacy

From Budweiser Clydesdales to Entrepreneurship: Building a Rural Experience Business

The Future of Cattle Ranching: Why Independent Producers Are Winning Again

The Truth About AI Data Centers and Rural America with Sara Steever

Lawfare in Agriculture: The Hidden Threat to American Ranchers with Heather Maude

Introducing "Sizzle: The Salty Steak Podcast"

Stop the Fighting on the Way to the Funeral Home with Jolene Brown [REPLAY]

Getting in the Arena with Kim Bremmer [REPLAY]

Redmond Real Salt for People & Livestock with Karson Rippstein

Battling Washington DC’s Overreach with SD Senator Mark Lapka [REPLAY]

Stand Your Ground with SD Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, Speaker Pro Tem Karla Lems & Senator Mark Lapka [REPLAY]

Motherhood, Entrepreneurship, & Juggling The Chaos Of It All with Courtney Coughlin [REPLAY]

Ranching on the Front Lines: Border Security Realities with Erica Valdez {REPLAY]

Grit and Grace with Fanchon Stinger [REPLAY]

Livestock & Property Rights Rally at BHSS Part 2 Featuring Shad Sullivan

The Heart of the Farm: Family, Finances & Facing the Hard Stuff Head On with Jolene Brown

Livestock & Property Rights Rally at BHSS Part 1 Featuring Charles & Heather Maude

Deregulating Beef Inspections To Connect Producers To Consumers with SD Rep. John Shubeck

BREAKING: SD Cowboy Gov. Larry Rhoden VETOES Cell Cultured Protein Ban with Rep. Julie Auch

Radke Land and Cattle Second Annual Bull Sale Preview: Genetics, Grit, and Giving Back

12 Game-Changing Strategies for Rural Business Growth in 2026

South Dakota Property Rights Rally: A Fight for Freedom and Family

Senator Mark Lapka's Bold Plan to Protect Rural Landowners from Eminent Domain

Delegating, Ditching & Doing: Calli Thorne’s Mindset for Rural Business Success

Entrepreneurship in 2026: Trends, Predictions & Practical Advice for Women

Resilience, Faith, and the Future of American Beef with Chris Earl

Is There Room On The Farm For A Child In Need? With Jessi Grote [REPLAY]

Women in Agritourism and Veterinary Medicine: Insights from Cowgirl Confident

Empowering Rural Entrepreneurs: Taylor Blake's Viral Success with Knuckle Bump Farms

Bulletproof Your Direct-to-Consumer Beef Business

Inside the Pocatello Land Grab with Dave Duquette of Western Justice

Fixing the Beef Market: What the USDA Is Getting Wrong

How the New Beef Plan Supports Family Ranches with Tate Bennett

Beef, Bezos, and the Battle for Agriculture’s Future: Insights from Chris Earl [Part 2]

Trump’s Beef Comments: What They Mean for Ranchers and Rural America with Chris Earl

Unlocking Profitability and Resilience in Rural Ranching with Jared Sorensen

Promoting Ag Literacy In Schools One Story At A Time [REPLAY]

On Farming, Football, and Pursuing Your Purpose with Chad Greenway [REPLAY}

How to Build an Agritourism Business and Fight to Protect it with Liz Fiedler Mergen

How Clare Dunn is Using Country Music to Defend Rural American Values

A New World Screwworm Update with Dr. Rich Brazil

Cattle, Country Music & Fighting For Rural America with Clare Dunn [REPLAY]

How Ag Entrepreneurs Can Finish 2025 Strong: Strategy & Mindset Tips

Why Beef is Booming: Price Trends, Consumer Demand & the Future of Meat

Angus, Bezos, Fake Meat & Your Cattle DNA with Chris Earl

Battling Washington DC’s Overreach with SD Senator Mark Lapka

The Fight for Farmland: How Urbanization Is Impacting Florida Agriculture

Celebrating 2 Years of 'The Heart of Rural America': Amanda Radke Spills the Tea [REPLAY]

The Greatest Scam In History with Guest David Begley and Co-Host Senator Mark Lapka

Standing Up for Producers: Liz May on the Future of Rural Representation

175-Year Old New Jersey Farm Under Threat Of Eminent Domain with Brett Tolman

Preserving Property Rights on Independence Day and All Year Round

Feeding Communities: The Role of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Foundation with Ryan Eichler

Direct-to-Consumer Beef Sales & the Heart of Family Farming with Jordan Classen

Boots on the Ground Fighting for Private Property Rights in Washington DC

Cattle, Climate, and Control: Chris Earl on the Angus Breed’s Future

The Big Beautiful Bill and the Battle for Rural Property Rights with Congressman Steve King

Ranching on the Front Lines: Border Security Realities with Erica Valdez

Why Kindness, Optimism, and Community Matter in Rural America with Matt Rush

Pushing Back Against The Cattle & Climate Change Narrative With Chris Earl

SD Legislators Caravan To Western South Dakota To Stand Up For The Maude Family