In this episode of the Ag Tribes Report, host Vance Crowe welcomes Keely Covello, an independent reporter and documentary filmmaker, to discuss pressing issues in agriculture. Keely shares insights into her investigative work on government overreach affecting independent farmers and highlights stories such as the pipeline crisis and the Maud family in South Dakota. The conversation delves into the Make America Healthy Again report, which addresses pesticide safety and the need for a balanced approach to agricultural practices. Keely emphasizes the importance of listening to producers and reassessing practices without undermining advancements in modern agriculture.
The episode also covers the Iowa landowner protection bill and the federal government's potential override, Montana's ban on lab-grown meat, and Brazil's bird flu outbreak affecting global poultry trade. Keely and Vance discuss the implications of these issues on independent farmers and the agricultural industry. The episode concludes with a discussion on Bitcoin's scarcity compared to land, Keely's views on regenerative agriculture, and her ongoing work with America Unwon, focusing on underreported stories in rural California.
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Unknown:
The Ag Tribes Report is brought to you by Legacy Interviews, a video service that captures people as they really are so the future knows who they really were. Here's Legacy Interviews guest Laurie Alt on the joy she experienced looking back on her life as a farm wife and mother.
[00:00:17] Unknown:
My career was raising my children, being a wife to Steve, helping on the farm, and I'm so glad for doing all that. Having this interview with you helps us see those good things that we have done, how happy I was in all those choices that I make. We can say that and put it in this interview to pass it on to our children and our grandchildren and great grandchildren someday. So I think you have a great gift to give people.
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Welcome to the Agtribe's report, a breakdown of the top stories affecting the culture of agriculture with your host, Vance Crowe. The report begins in three, two, one. Let's begin.
[00:01:05] Unknown:
Welcome to the Ag Tribes Report. I'm your host, Vance Crowe. Each week, I bring on a co host to represent the perspectives of one of the many ag tribes that collectively make up US and Canadian agriculture. This week, we have a great honor. We have Keeley Covello, an independent reporter and documentary filmmaker who digs deep into agricultural issues through her organization, America Unwon. Keeley has built a reputation for detailed investigative reporting on government overreach affecting independent farmers across the country, and I think it is no overstatement to say that she is changing, the lives of hundreds of people that, otherwise would be left to the whims of the government. So, Keeley, welcome to the show. What have you been paying attention to lately?
[00:01:50] Unknown:
Thank you so much for having me, Vance. It's my honor to be here. Well, man, there's been a lot of ag news lately. So we've been, you know, inundated with all of these stories from the pipeline crisis, that we will talk about a little bit later. I believe in the big, beautiful budget reconciliation bill, the Maud family in South Dakota. Those are just a few of the stories that have really come to the forefront in the last couple of weeks, but it's a it's a good time to be in ag journalism. This we are not short of stories.
[00:02:23] Unknown:
Well, I think, like, you've actually made it a good time to be in ag journalism. I mean, the Maud family, I found out about that through you. I found out about the, the cattle ranchers on the island out in California that are being forced off. I mean, some of these issues that when you dig into them, you're like, these are massive, like, very big stories that no one else was talking about before I found it from you.
[00:02:45] Unknown:
Well, that's kind of you to say. Yeah. We the story of the Point Reyes Ranchers is another great example, and all of these are involving federal agencies that impact all of us, so they have a lot of reach. So I think it's relevant for everyone, whether you're in California, whether you're in South Dakota like the Maude family. These are stories that impact everyone in agriculture and and all Americans who eat food.
[00:03:08] Unknown:
How did you start America on ONE?
[00:03:11] Unknown:
It's a passion project, really. I was a journalist. I, went to school for journalism. I worked briefly in DC, and I in my hometown in Mendocino County. I was a reporter. And then I got into documentary filmmaking and just wanted to kinda share my understanding of this lifestyle from a more authentic lens. I didn't always find the freedom in media to cover the stories I felt were important. And through the democratization that social media has brought, it's created an opportunity for independent storytelling, which is something I'm very passionate about. So starting America in One was a way to get those stories out there, in my free time, really, and it's it's grown since then, which just, again, shows that these are stories that matter to the American people, even though I don't know that the mainstream media and entertainment silos always gave them that level of respect.
[00:04:03] Unknown:
Well, I think you've brought a lot of respectability to ag, the investigative reporting. I mean, just just the way that you bring these stories out is great, so I'm glad and really truly proud to have you on here. Let's get to the stories because tonight, we have a lot to discuss. We're exploring the MAHA report, which came out, trying to talk about children's health, but it had some, pretty strong words about pesticide safety and the reevaluation of those pesticides. We're also going to examine Iowa landowner's protection bill against the carbon pipeline, that could be to, you know, put in through eminent domain.
I I know you've been following these stories very closely. And, right now, there's federal legislation that threatens to override these state protections. Then we're gonna talk a little bit about Montana becoming the fifth state to ban lab grown meat as major packers invest billions into biotech, potentially to replace ranchers. And finally, we're gonna talk about Brazil's Bird Flu Outbreak. It seems as though bird flu has spread beyond The US and Canada borders and, threatens a major, global supplier of poultry. So we're gonna cover all that. We're also gonna hear Kili's Bitcoin land price report, hear her take on the Peter Thiel paradox, and learn about her worthy adversary. And we're gonna try and do it in just thirty minutes. So headline number one, MAHA report walks careful line on agricultural pesticides.
The Make America Healthy Again report has been released, and it's attempting to balance criticism of pets pesticide use report recommends that federal agencies quote, steady pesticides widely used in commercial farming and calls, for recessing them, reassessing them, but includes a significant caveat saying American farmers rely on these products and actions that further regulate or restrict crop protection tools beyond risk based and scientific processes set forth by Congress. And so this must involve a thoughtful consideration of what is necessary for the adequate protection, alternatives, and cost of production.
This goes on and on, but I have to say that, farmers were quite worried about this. The national corn growers were worried. The farm bureau came out with pretty strong words before the report was really saying, hey. You can't just come in here and say America's not healthy because of our practices. Don't ban these. Healy, the report seems to be driving it habit both ways, questioning pesticide safety while not attacking, agricultural directly. What do you think? Is did they walk that line? What do you think about the reevaluation of pesticides?
[00:06:32] Unknown:
You know, I do have confidence that this administration is listening to producers. I I believe that that is at least their intent, and, certainly, they've signaled as much. We do have to have a conversation about additives and modern agriculture and practices in our country, but we can't, you know, throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our advancements in modern agriculture have led to the flourishing of our country into low starvation rates, which we forget. Not long ago, it was, much less guaranteed that you could have an overabundance of food in your country. So you don't want to lose those advancements, but at the same time, it's a good moment to reassess some of our practices and making sure that we're doing everything right for the next generation.
I'm just encouraged that we're finally having this conversation. There's gonna be a rocky road ahead. There's gonna be people disagreeing on both sides. There's definitely misinformation about, you know, some of these practices and some of these pesticides misunderstanding about the risks. Maybe there's, you know, more science we need to do to understand what kind of a threat they pose to the consumer. But at the end of the day, the fact that we're having this conversation is so important because we haven't been talking about this at all in the public square in so long. So my heart is always gonna be with the American farmer and making sure that we're honoring what they do. They're the people who feed us in an increasingly urbanized society.
We need to respect what they know and their knowledge. They should be leading the conversation. But the fact that Americans are interested in agriculture and interested in where their food comes from, to me, that can only be a positive.
[00:08:18] Unknown:
Yeah. I agree. And I to your point, I think it's really important that we constantly reevaluate the pesticides. We constantly look at what are we doing. And it appears to me in the same way that it is to you, this administration seems to be listening. I know three people personally that have met with the, what's her name? Brooke Rollins, the secretary of ag. And, I mean, you're seeing them walk back things about overreach that they've done on these cattle ranches, where they were, you know, arguing over a fence line and willing to put people in prison before. If there was ever a time for us to have a balanced, level headed discussion about pesticides, it's better to do it when you've got an administration that's listening to you than one that comes in and is just ripping things out of the wall.
[00:09:01] Unknown:
Yeah. You're just so right. That's very well said. I think Brooke Rollins really showed where her priorities are at in the Maude case just a couple of weeks ago when she had the Maud family on the steps of the USDA Building, and she spoke so passionately about the importance of keeping American agriculture healthy and independent, prioritizing our farmers and ranchers. To me, that was a very telling statement from someone that we didn't really know a lot about. Rollins was kind of an outsider. She wasn't on any short list for US ag secretary that I read. So she's been a bit of an unknown, and that speech to me was meaningful and shows where her priorities
[00:09:41] Unknown:
lie. Yeah. I mean, I have definitely been suspicious of the amount of press tours and checking in with people. But I saw her just the other day with a a poultry farmer that I know out in in Nebraska, and I was like, man, this is not this is this is somebody you have to travel pretty far out of your way to do this. This is not just press junkets. They're really listening. So I'm I'm excited to see it, and I think if we're gonna if we're gonna take a look at pesticides, probably the best administration we're gonna get for a long, long time. Well Alright. Headline number two, Iowa landowner protection bill heads to governor as federal override looms. From the Tri State Livestock News and The Gazette, Iowa State Senate passed a bill to protect landowners from carbon pipe pipeline eminent domain in a '27 to 22 vote.
House file six three nine would give landowners more legal protections against the imminent domain for pipeline projects. However, while Iowa awaits the governor's decision, the federal house, energy and commerce committee released language in its budget reconciliation bill that could overwrite state landowner protections. Former Iowa congressman Steve King said that the federal language, quote, wipes out property rights in front of any one pipeline that carries anything that fits the definition of liquid or gas. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association opposes the state bill with executive director Monte Shaw warning very real, very serious economic consequences if the carbon capture products projects can't move forward.
Keeley, what's your take on the battle between state landowner protections and the federal authority to override them?
[00:11:21] Unknown:
This is what I feel pretty strongly about. I do believe that the language that showed up in the budget reconciliation bill, which I believe was struck, but we need to see confirmation of that. I I think it poses a serious conflict of interest because of the amount of lobbying that went into it. We have a lot of folks in the Trump administration who are sympathetic to these c o two pipelines. The conversation about c o two pipelines aside, and I do think that it's worth having that conversation, eminent domain for c o two pipelines does not make sense to me at all. And I think the American people have been very clear that they do not want eminent domain for these types of projects.
We can understand using eminent domain for a highway. That's something that we can at least discuss. But a c o two pipeline that benefits a cooperation with foreign backing, a c o two pipeline that buries carbon dioxide underground and gives billions of dollars in taxpayer money to a single entity, is that really in the public interest? Is that really in the public good? I think we have to have a conversation about that. I don't know that that's where the American people are at in terms of climate change mitigation. Is this our best solution more than, you know, planting trees, encouraging grazing practices?
I'm not convinced of that, and I don't believe that American private property rights should be for sale. Voters in South Dakota and Iowa have been very clear that they do not want imminent domain for pipelines. I think it's wrong for the federal government to override that.
[00:12:58] Unknown:
I am with you a %. We've covered this on many episodes of the program where, first of all, carbon pipelines, like, the only reason there's a market is because they're hoping to use tax money to, to be able to make somebody be able to make money off this because nobody actually wants this as a function of the free market. And so you're taking taxpayer money to put a pipeline in the ground that if it leaks, it kills people. It has killed people. And on top of all of that, you are running over the most sacred of all rights, for humans, which is property rights. And so whoever is doing this, fuck you. Like, it is not in your purview to be able to come in and say, well, if we get enough people that say we want your land, then we can just take it because you can't. And, like, that is the very core reason that we have the government around is to protect our property rights. And if the government is coming through and saying, no. Actually, we're just gonna rip these things out of your hands. Like, this is no bueno, and we should fight till the very, very bitter end on this one.
[00:14:01] Unknown:
I could not agree with you more. Yeah. Absolutely. This is a hill to die on. And if you have the threat of eminent domain looming over these conversations, then it's not really a free and open conversation at all.
[00:14:13] Unknown:
Yeah. And, I mean, it's one thing to have county eminent domain or even state eminent domain, but federal eminent domain means that somebody that doesn't even live in your state, knows nothing about it, has never set foot on your property, doesn't ever have to look you in the eye, gets to make these decisions. And if you give this power to an administration you like, we all have to remember that eventually it switches and you give this power to a group of people you don't like. And, I mean, like, that was so vague about any gas. Like, it this is this is not a good way to go. It's giving way too much power away.
[00:14:47] Unknown:
Right. And this isn't legislation to deal with the CO two pipelines themselves. It's just making corporations have to deal with the same playing field the rest of us deal in where you have to convince someone to partner with them. You don't get to hold a gun to their head because you paid the government $10,000,000, which was part of this budget reconciliation language.
[00:15:09] Unknown:
Well, I, will keep an eye on this. I know we have we have a lot of people out there on x that are talking about this, but it's one of those things that you just cannot let your guard down. And I I will always support and blow oxygen on these. And I know you, of all people, have really shown a lot of light on this. Oh, well,
[00:15:25] Unknown:
Vance, yeah, I'm so glad you're on this story. I think it's so important to everyone outside of Iowa, outside of South Dakota, outside of this immediate summit summit carbon solutions pipeline. This has huge repercussions. And I think you nailed it when you said you can't give permissions to an administration you may like knowing that a future administration can abuse those permissions.
[00:15:47] Unknown:
Alright. Moving on to headline number three, Montana becomes the fifth state to ban lab grown meat. This is from Zero Hedge. Montana governor Greg Gianforte signed HB four zero one into law banning the manufacturing and sale of lab grown meat, quote, so called lab grown meat has no place in Montana, Giaforte wrote on x, adding he is, quote, proud to defend our way of life and the hardworking Montana ranchers who produce the best beef in the world. Montana joins four other states in prohibiting lab cultivated proteins. The push comes after the Biden era policies that fast tracked approval for companies like Good Meat Inc and Bill Gates backed Upside Foods.
The FDA issued a no questions asked approval for lab cultivated chicken cells in 2023, while the USDA has yet to fulfill its regulatory rule on labeling requirements. Even as whistleblowers were comparing lab grown meat startup Upside Foods to Theranos, major meatpackers like JBS, Tyson, and Cargill have rapidly invested billions to replace ranchers with biotech. Montana state rep Braxton Mitchell said, quote, we won't let synthetic products with misleading labels undercut the hard work of Montana's farmers and ranchers. Keely, this seems like the kind of government corporate partnership, that is kind of against the independent farmer producers that you've been documenting, but you're also pretty strong on personal rights. So where does this fit with the way that you view the world?
[00:17:17] Unknown:
That's a great question. I think it's it's an interesting example of federalism. These are individual states banning these foods. So, you know, there there's a little bit more accountability to your state government. Is this reflective of what people want? I think it's probably best always to have these conversations and let the market decide. And, personally, I think that is a very compelling argument against these lab grown meat companies. At the same time, you know, when you just mentioned JBS, Tyson, and Cargill, these huge meatpackers who are consolidating against producers, putting money against producers to replace them with these lab grown options.
So we're not totally fighting a fair fight here. I think, ultimately, we need less regulation so that we can have more competition against these meatpackers. I don't think the American people want lab grown meat. I think the market has done a pretty good job rejecting lab grown meat on its own without legislation. Most of these companies are tanking. I've reported on some of the pretty wild practices these investors are using to try to get a leg up in the market, and still people are rejecting it. People don't want frank and meat. They want the real thing. And I don't know that we need this legislation, but I do think it's reflective of kind of a knee jerk reaction of the American people against more processed fake food shutting out our producers.
[00:18:46] Unknown:
Keely, you're causing a problem for me because we agree a %, and my audience likes it a lot better when I disagree. But I'm with you. I I, I think that, absolutely, this should not be done at a federal level. And if a state wants to do it, this is where I get, like, very uncomfortable because I do want states to be able to say, hey. This is how we have decided to live. This is what we want in our place. But I, you know, I wouldn't then want Montana to be able to say you're not allowed to transport, you know, lab grown meat from this state into our state or, you know, all the things that come with adding more laws. So to me, the best way to defeat this is the open market. But the way the open market has to work is lessen all the regulations so that these big meat packing houses that use regulatory moats to be able to grow all their power is actually spread out among little producers. And then all of a sudden, you wouldn't have a locker or a small head butchery, you know, or processing facility putting money into lab grown meat. They just but they would be undercutting those packers who are doing this. So to me, more free market would lower the ability for these companies to, tilt the scales in their favor.
[00:19:57] Unknown:
Yeah. That's that's really well said. I mean, the free market is always kinda the answer. Right? Because we have a great argument here. We don't necessarily need legislation to make that argument for us. But you have to acknowledge that the meatpackers and these big players, these huge corporate players are not playing fair. So we do have to address that too. It's not enough to just handicap producers or to just say less regulation when it benefits producers. We need less regulation, and we need a better, you know, Packers and Stoppers Act to actually create a more equal playing field for American ranchers.
[00:20:34] Unknown:
Absolutely. I agree. Alright. Heading into headline number four, Brazil's bird flu outbreak disrupts go global poultry trade. From Reuters, Brazil, the world's largest poultry exporter confirmed cases of h5 n1 avian influenza in commercial flocks for the first time this week. The outbreak has prompted at least 15 countries to impose import restrictions on Brazilian poultry products, flux. U. S. Poultry Producers are seeing increased export opportunities, but also heightened biosecurity concerns as the virus continues to spread globally. Industry analysts expect chicken prices to remain volatile with potential price increases for consumers both domestically and abroad.
Keely, how concerned should US Poultry Farmers be about this development? Are you is the avian flu something you've kept an eye on?
[00:21:27] Unknown:
A little bit. I do think that we overreacted in killing off hundreds of thousands of birds in this last outbreak. I I have confidence, more confidence in this USDA than the Biden USDA to protect our borders. We've seen that with Brook Rawlins, shutting down the southern border because of the new world screw worm concerns. So I have confidence that this administration has more of the producer and our local domestic producer's interest at heart than the previous administration. But I I don't think we should lose our head the way that we did under Biden and, you know, kill off all of our poultry, you know, numbers.
[00:22:07] Unknown:
Yeah. What a what a terrible government decision that sent everything going to egg prices skyrocketing to now all of a sudden we're importing eggs even though it's the first time egg producers are really making big margins. Like, it was terrible introduction into into the normally, the capitalist system. Well, I, I wanted to throw out, the regenerative, the RegenaSense, has said Indiana's way of going about lab meet is interesting. Banning it for two years, and when it's back, they'll have it clearly labeled stating what it is. It just came out alongside the Montana news. I hadn't heard that.
[00:22:43] Unknown:
That's interesting. More transparency.
[00:22:45] Unknown:
That's fair. Yeah. More transparency. I'm still not all about the band, but I see it's an interesting way to go about it. Alright. If you have interesting news that you think we should report on, then send it to me on x at Vance Crowe, or you can always send it to me at Vance Alright. We are going to head into the Bitcoin land price report. Since I didn't do the show last week, we have to reference the Bitcoin price from two weeks ago where it was at $103,500. And today, we are sitting at a new all time high of $111,000, which is up 7.3% from two weeks ago.
So, Keely, we're gonna make a little comparison between the, price of land and Bitcoin. So where do you live, and how much does an acre of land cost where you're at?
[00:23:40] Unknown:
I'm from Mendocino County, California, Northern California. That's where I'll always call home. I just looked it up. It looks like the median price per acre in Mendo right now is $14,396 for undeveloped land, around $4,928
[00:23:57] Unknown:
per acre. So there you go. Wow. And, like, Mendocino, that is one of the most beautiful counties in in all of the of the world. So I used to live there myself, so this is this is fun. Well, at eleven, at $111,000 that means that an acre of land is about 0.135, Bitcoin. Or in other words, if you had 1 Bitcoin, you could buy I mean
[00:24:34] Unknown:
I mean, that's I'm interested, but I'm not the expert. My husband's the one who handles the money in our family. That's just how we work it out. But, I mean, that's, that's pretty compelling. That's interesting. I should take more tips from you on this. We should talk offline.
[00:24:50] Unknown:
Well, I actually for the I I talk about Bitcoin all the time. I think about it all the time. People call me. They wanna talk about it. But I I there's always something that's difficult for me to express. And while I was looking looking out on social media, getting ready for the Ag Tribes report, I actually came across this short video that compares Bitcoin to land prices, and I wanted to play it here because I think it it'll be kinda fun. So, since this isn't really your area, I thought I'd show this video. We could chat about it. Only ever be 21,000,000
[00:25:22] Unknown:
Bitcoin. To truly understand just how scarce that makes Bitcoin, let's look at planet Earth. The surface of the planet spans roughly 200,000,000 square miles. And unless you're Aquaman, most of that's unusable. And okay, let's say we remove the deserts, the mountains, the forests, and the farmland. What's left is just above 32,000,000 square miles of livable land. Now, imagine dividing all of that into just 21,000,000 plots to represent each for the 21,000,000 Bitcoin. Each Bitcoin would represent over 1,000 acres, or the equivalent of about 750 football fields.
To own that much land today, you'd need hundreds of millions of dollars. Do you see how truly scarce Bitcoin is? It's like discovering the scarcest digital land known to man before the rest of the world wraps their head around it. As a wise man once said, it might make sense just to get some in case it catches on.
[00:26:26] Unknown:
So that comes from the the CEO of a company called Strike, Jack Mallers. And I thought it was kind of a clever way to put Bitcoin. How did it strike you?
[00:26:35] Unknown:
That's that's really compelling. Growing up in California, it makes me think of the folks who bought land here back in the day, and they're sitting pretty right now. So, hey, make a good argument there, man.
[00:26:46] Unknown:
I was so we've been comparing it to the price of farmland. I never thought to compare it to the price of, you know, the the land that we're currently living on. Either way, it's one land is that thing that I think connects with Bitcoin because nothing else is truly scarce in this world. Even gold, if the price of gold goes up, then they'll go buy more steam shovels, and they'll dig more gold out of the ground. Whereas Bitcoin and land, farmland in particular, we're not making any more of it, so it's a scarce asset just like Bitcoin is.
[00:27:16] Unknown:
That's a great point. That's really interesting.
[00:27:19] Unknown:
Alright. Well, we'll be back next week with, more on the Bitcoin land price report. Now we get to move to what I think will likely be quite compelling. This is the Peter Thiel paradox where I'm gonna ask Keeley, what is one thing that you believe that almost no one you know agrees with you on?
[00:27:37] Unknown:
I I love this question. I feel like there's so many things that I feel like a contrarian about these days, especially here in California. But for your audience, when I try to think about what folks might disagree with me about in the ag landscape, I have to say I have some questions about our use of the term regenerative. I think it can become a little bit, a little bit exclusionary. We tend to throw out, you know, the most important thing, which is keeping American producers in agriculture further dividing us when we're facing as much legislative, regulatory, and corporate threats as we are. I'm not sure that's always the right approach. I'm pretty pro grazing down the line, and I think those inter industry conversations are great to have. But we should have each other's backs in this industry because our enemies, so to speak, really want us gone. They don't, you know, want to just see regenerative egg. They don't wanna have to compete with American small producers at all.
[00:28:42] Unknown:
I like this one a lot. It's one that I've never heard before and haven't even thought of on my own, but I agree with you. There is so much, pushback and forth within agriculture about, you know, what practices you're doing, who's on what team that it really takes the, the wind out of the sails of the larger agricultural movement. And, I think you're right. Like, I I know for one, when I was first described regenerative ag, I interpreted it as, well, this is socialism. Because if you go read this guy's definition of it, they wanna determine how much you should have to pay people, and that's what part of their regenerative ag is. Well, I'm a % against that, so whatever that system is, I'm against. But then you start realizing, like, well, these guys are also, you know, the the way that the farm weird stuff comes up, the way they come up with new ways to do different kinds of growing. So it's not a great idea to be fully against it. So you do have to set down some of your ways of thinking about things in order that the larger picture can come through.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
Right. I yeah. Exactly. I think that the way that we're facing the current landscape, the threats against agriculture and independent producers, As it goes back to our earlier conversation, we need to do this through the market. Let the consumer lead with what they're willing to pay, educate consumers to create those opportunities. But I think forcing or threatening ranchers or using this kind of divisive language within an industry that should ultimately have each other's backs, I do think that's counterproductive.
[00:30:13] Unknown:
Well, I am gonna give you a solid eight point o on this. I'm I'm impressed. It's, it's a new and different thing. I don't think it'll make anybody too angry, but it was it's definitely an interesting one. It actually reminds me of something I saw in x that I thought I would, I would bring up here. This is a tweet that, is from Rachel Venestra Cott who is, at k state agronomy, and she said, we are officially, hashtag farming weird, an endless amount of questions to answer and challenges. And what she's showing is two different crops growing in between each other. And, like, this is exactly the benefit of these kind of out there ideas that were seen as totally, radical just a few years ago. Now coming into institutional adoption and coming up with, hey, does this allow us to grow with less pesticides, with, greater efficiency, with more bounty, all the things that can come from that. And that's why arguing about these two things, is actually probably harming us more than anything.
[00:31:15] Unknown:
Right. Exactly. I think that's it's it's important to not throw out the baby with the bathwater here. When we're dealing with lab grown meat, factory processed food, you know, we can have disagreements about how you graze, but the fact that you're grazing to me is a win. I'm always gonna be on the side of the family farmer ranch that's still doing things locally accountable to their community. I think that is always something I'm gonna support.
[00:31:42] Unknown:
Yeah. I mean, no question. Right, Red? It doesn't matter whether you're a regenerative farmer or you're farming the most conventional way that you can. If eminent domain comes through your property, it comes through your property.
[00:31:52] Unknown:
Exactly. Yeah. And sometimes these terms like, there isn't necessarily an agreed upon definition of regenerative. So I don't want that to become a weapon the other side can use to add more regulation and beat down our independence further by using these buzzwords to further restrict what we're allowed to do. While the other side, JBS, and these big players, they strip the Brazilian rainforest. They bribe officials while they go public in The US. That's that's not a future that I think is beneficial for consumers or producers.
[00:32:27] Unknown:
Well, this leads us to the final segment where we talk about worthy adversaries. And I am very curious to know who is somebody that you respect but that you strongly disagree with?
[00:32:38] Unknown:
I'm gonna keep it in the same space. Will Harris. I think he's someone I really respect. I think he has great ideas. I think he's been a great, communicator for agriculture, But I think sometimes he can be very critical of practices that I don't believe are the you know, the the best shouldn't be the enemy of the good, and I think that's sometimes the angle he takes. And maybe this is coming from my perspective as someone who speaks to urban audiences about agriculture. So I always want to defend farmers and ranchers when I think they're doing the right thing or doing their best in the situation that they're given.
But I don't always love exposing those inter industry debates to a world that can take that and just take away the message that beef is bad unless it's this very niche product. In my opinion, if you buy beef that was raised in The US, you're buying great products, period.
[00:33:38] Unknown:
Well, great. I'm always excited when somebody's willing to throw out a name and say, like, hey. This is somebody I respect and but, like, this is where we differ because this is the only way that you have better conversations. If you just keep these disagreements in your mind, that person goes on thinking, hey. I look at all these likes I got, but doesn't really say, like, hey. There's some kind of thing I could grapple with. So bravo to you. Well, we are gonna wrap up. But before we do, I am so curious to know, like, what is on the horizon for you with America On ONE? Like, what what do you see going on both for the organization that you're building, but what stories are on the horizon?
[00:34:15] Unknown:
I have a bunch of stories I'm working on right now. Actually, a couple are from Mendocino County where so if you have some familiarity with that area, you know it's absolutely gorgeous. It's also a little wild and western out there. They I was just talking to a friend who visited, and he was saying, we've got hippies in Mendocino County, but they're the kind that have a gun and will kill you. They're not they're doomsday prepper hippies. They're not like peace and love, Grateful Dead hippies. Vietnam Vets that that booby trapped their land. Like, I they're it's a wild place up there. It really is. And now we have a lot of cartel presence up there because of the legalization of marijuana locally that goes back to this, I believe, eighties or something like that. But, anyway, so I did a documentary last year on the murder of a rancher in the Humboldt County, Mendocino County border area.
And this last week, two more murders happened. One right next to his, the site where he was killed, another in a reservation town involving a drug trafficking organization. So I'm I was speaking to the sheriff about that. I'm speaking to some of the natives up there about that, what they're dealing with living on reservation land where there is less federal jurisdiction, so they're often a target of these transnational drug trafficking organizations that are governor Gavin Newsom, he doesn't give the time of day to rural California. The sheriff told me he's never returned his phone calls. So to me, that's a very undercover story, and one that I'll continue to highlight just because California, it's a it's a complex place, and I think it's easy to forget how much agriculture we have, how many good people are just trying to make a living there. I don't wanna lose that part of the state. So I I do have a lot of stories covered in California, but all over the West, really, we, there's no shortage of material. That's for sure.
[00:36:01] Unknown:
You know, going back to your thing about, Mendocino, California, that county alone is half the size of the state of Delaware. And so that sheriff is basically, I mean, in charge of so many things and to get from one side of the county to the other is nothing like traveling in Iowa or Illinois or Indiana. You're talking about like traversing through mountain ranges and totally different climates. And I mean, the people out there are extremely remote. I mean, there there are people that it takes hours to get to any kind of civilization, and, that is not being reported on. But this is where so much of it California is where this rural communities produce so much of the products that we use every day in The United States.
[00:36:46] Unknown:
Totally. I'm glad you have familiarity with it. It's not a place that a lot of people know. I love that because it it is a beautiful part of the country that I don't if you were just to be dropped in the hills of Filo or Boonville or Bell Springs Road or Covelo, you would not think you were in California. It's very rugged. It's very, very remote. It's very rural. Half hippies, half cowboys. And it's just a beautiful part of the country that unfortunately has been the victim of some of our worst ideas here in California and a state government that does not care.
[00:37:20] Unknown:
Yeah. I, I'm I'm familiar with it mostly. I've lived there for a couple of years, and I worked in community public radio. And and there, community public radio is fought over it's like life and death because it is the only medium that reaches the entire county. And so this was a place where intellectuals would come, hippies would come, old soldiers. Like, it it was an incredible place for a young 20 year old to be where I got so many responsibilities, not because I deserved them, but because nobody else was there to do the work. And it was a it was a great experience. So I I only found out about you coming from Mendocino right before we started.
[00:37:57] Unknown:
Yeah. And that's how I I love that. I got my start as a reporter there too. I was at the Ukiah Daily Journal, and I showed up at 18 and said, can I be an intern? They were like, actually, you can go be a reporter, and you can do whatever you want. And I was like, awesome. That was a great way to learn.
[00:38:10] Unknown:
Who was the editor back when you were there? Casey Meadows, I believe. Oh, gosh. I know Casey Meadows. No kidding. Yeah. We used to do all, election shows together. Yeah. So Oh my goodness. She's crazy. She was a serious woman. Very, very, like, you know, serious woman.
[00:38:27] Unknown:
Those old school editors are the best. Everyone should every journalist should have to work for an old school newspaper editor when they start out. That's the way to go.
[00:38:35] Unknown:
So I see what you were doing with America Unwon and think, what is it that we can do to blow more oxygen on it? How can people find you and how can they support you?
[00:38:45] Unknown:
Oh, that's so kind of you, Vance. Thank you. We're very bootstrapped, super grassroots. Just me riding away and a couple of documentaries that I've been able to pull together with a very talented team. You can see all of it at america u n w o n dot com. I'm also on Instagram, x, YouTube, all that stuff. Same same address.
[00:39:06] Unknown:
Well, I'm getting that, surreal feeling of, like, where you see somebody all the time on on the, you know, x to me, and, like, you actually get to meet them. And, so it was a it was a great pleasure to have you on, Keeley.
[00:39:18] Unknown:
Thank you, Vance. This has been so fun. Thank you for having me on. It was a great time.
[00:39:23] Unknown:
Well, if you are interested in having me record one of your loved ones to tell their life stories like we talked about at the beginning of the show, then go to legacyinterviews.com to find out more. You can schedule a call with me, and we can talk about either doing an interview for yourself or doing one for your loved one to capture those meaningful memories and that that way they can be passed on. Also, if you are realizing that Bitcoin is actually a finite resource and it might not hurt to get a little bit together because it might just work out, then, I recommend using the exchangeriver.com, and I will include a link on the show notes that if you buy your, Bitcoin from River using that link, it will support the show and, give you a great access to a great exchange.
So that's gonna do it for this week's Ag Tribes report. We'll be back next week with another show. And as always, feel free to disagree.
The Ag Tribes Report is brought to you by Legacy Interviews, a video service that captures people as they really are so the future knows who they really were. Here's Legacy Interviews guest Laurie Alt on the joy she experienced looking back on her life as a farm wife and mother.
[00:00:17] Unknown:
My career was raising my children, being a wife to Steve, helping on the farm, and I'm so glad for doing all that. Having this interview with you helps us see those good things that we have done, how happy I was in all those choices that I make. We can say that and put it in this interview to pass it on to our children and our grandchildren and great grandchildren someday. So I think you have a great gift to give people.
[00:00:50] Unknown:
Welcome to the Agtribe's report, a breakdown of the top stories affecting the culture of agriculture with your host, Vance Crowe. The report begins in three, two, one. Let's begin.
[00:01:05] Unknown:
Welcome to the Ag Tribes Report. I'm your host, Vance Crowe. Each week, I bring on a co host to represent the perspectives of one of the many ag tribes that collectively make up US and Canadian agriculture. This week, we have a great honor. We have Keeley Covello, an independent reporter and documentary filmmaker who digs deep into agricultural issues through her organization, America Unwon. Keeley has built a reputation for detailed investigative reporting on government overreach affecting independent farmers across the country, and I think it is no overstatement to say that she is changing, the lives of hundreds of people that, otherwise would be left to the whims of the government. So, Keeley, welcome to the show. What have you been paying attention to lately?
[00:01:50] Unknown:
Thank you so much for having me, Vance. It's my honor to be here. Well, man, there's been a lot of ag news lately. So we've been, you know, inundated with all of these stories from the pipeline crisis, that we will talk about a little bit later. I believe in the big, beautiful budget reconciliation bill, the Maud family in South Dakota. Those are just a few of the stories that have really come to the forefront in the last couple of weeks, but it's a it's a good time to be in ag journalism. This we are not short of stories.
[00:02:23] Unknown:
Well, I think, like, you've actually made it a good time to be in ag journalism. I mean, the Maud family, I found out about that through you. I found out about the, the cattle ranchers on the island out in California that are being forced off. I mean, some of these issues that when you dig into them, you're like, these are massive, like, very big stories that no one else was talking about before I found it from you.
[00:02:45] Unknown:
Well, that's kind of you to say. Yeah. We the story of the Point Reyes Ranchers is another great example, and all of these are involving federal agencies that impact all of us, so they have a lot of reach. So I think it's relevant for everyone, whether you're in California, whether you're in South Dakota like the Maude family. These are stories that impact everyone in agriculture and and all Americans who eat food.
[00:03:08] Unknown:
How did you start America on ONE?
[00:03:11] Unknown:
It's a passion project, really. I was a journalist. I, went to school for journalism. I worked briefly in DC, and I in my hometown in Mendocino County. I was a reporter. And then I got into documentary filmmaking and just wanted to kinda share my understanding of this lifestyle from a more authentic lens. I didn't always find the freedom in media to cover the stories I felt were important. And through the democratization that social media has brought, it's created an opportunity for independent storytelling, which is something I'm very passionate about. So starting America in One was a way to get those stories out there, in my free time, really, and it's it's grown since then, which just, again, shows that these are stories that matter to the American people, even though I don't know that the mainstream media and entertainment silos always gave them that level of respect.
[00:04:03] Unknown:
Well, I think you've brought a lot of respectability to ag, the investigative reporting. I mean, just just the way that you bring these stories out is great, so I'm glad and really truly proud to have you on here. Let's get to the stories because tonight, we have a lot to discuss. We're exploring the MAHA report, which came out, trying to talk about children's health, but it had some, pretty strong words about pesticide safety and the reevaluation of those pesticides. We're also going to examine Iowa landowner's protection bill against the carbon pipeline, that could be to, you know, put in through eminent domain.
I I know you've been following these stories very closely. And, right now, there's federal legislation that threatens to override these state protections. Then we're gonna talk a little bit about Montana becoming the fifth state to ban lab grown meat as major packers invest billions into biotech, potentially to replace ranchers. And finally, we're gonna talk about Brazil's Bird Flu Outbreak. It seems as though bird flu has spread beyond The US and Canada borders and, threatens a major, global supplier of poultry. So we're gonna cover all that. We're also gonna hear Kili's Bitcoin land price report, hear her take on the Peter Thiel paradox, and learn about her worthy adversary. And we're gonna try and do it in just thirty minutes. So headline number one, MAHA report walks careful line on agricultural pesticides.
The Make America Healthy Again report has been released, and it's attempting to balance criticism of pets pesticide use report recommends that federal agencies quote, steady pesticides widely used in commercial farming and calls, for recessing them, reassessing them, but includes a significant caveat saying American farmers rely on these products and actions that further regulate or restrict crop protection tools beyond risk based and scientific processes set forth by Congress. And so this must involve a thoughtful consideration of what is necessary for the adequate protection, alternatives, and cost of production.
This goes on and on, but I have to say that, farmers were quite worried about this. The national corn growers were worried. The farm bureau came out with pretty strong words before the report was really saying, hey. You can't just come in here and say America's not healthy because of our practices. Don't ban these. Healy, the report seems to be driving it habit both ways, questioning pesticide safety while not attacking, agricultural directly. What do you think? Is did they walk that line? What do you think about the reevaluation of pesticides?
[00:06:32] Unknown:
You know, I do have confidence that this administration is listening to producers. I I believe that that is at least their intent, and, certainly, they've signaled as much. We do have to have a conversation about additives and modern agriculture and practices in our country, but we can't, you know, throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our advancements in modern agriculture have led to the flourishing of our country into low starvation rates, which we forget. Not long ago, it was, much less guaranteed that you could have an overabundance of food in your country. So you don't want to lose those advancements, but at the same time, it's a good moment to reassess some of our practices and making sure that we're doing everything right for the next generation.
I'm just encouraged that we're finally having this conversation. There's gonna be a rocky road ahead. There's gonna be people disagreeing on both sides. There's definitely misinformation about, you know, some of these practices and some of these pesticides misunderstanding about the risks. Maybe there's, you know, more science we need to do to understand what kind of a threat they pose to the consumer. But at the end of the day, the fact that we're having this conversation is so important because we haven't been talking about this at all in the public square in so long. So my heart is always gonna be with the American farmer and making sure that we're honoring what they do. They're the people who feed us in an increasingly urbanized society.
We need to respect what they know and their knowledge. They should be leading the conversation. But the fact that Americans are interested in agriculture and interested in where their food comes from, to me, that can only be a positive.
[00:08:18] Unknown:
Yeah. I agree. And I to your point, I think it's really important that we constantly reevaluate the pesticides. We constantly look at what are we doing. And it appears to me in the same way that it is to you, this administration seems to be listening. I know three people personally that have met with the, what's her name? Brooke Rollins, the secretary of ag. And, I mean, you're seeing them walk back things about overreach that they've done on these cattle ranches, where they were, you know, arguing over a fence line and willing to put people in prison before. If there was ever a time for us to have a balanced, level headed discussion about pesticides, it's better to do it when you've got an administration that's listening to you than one that comes in and is just ripping things out of the wall.
[00:09:01] Unknown:
Yeah. You're just so right. That's very well said. I think Brooke Rollins really showed where her priorities are at in the Maude case just a couple of weeks ago when she had the Maud family on the steps of the USDA Building, and she spoke so passionately about the importance of keeping American agriculture healthy and independent, prioritizing our farmers and ranchers. To me, that was a very telling statement from someone that we didn't really know a lot about. Rollins was kind of an outsider. She wasn't on any short list for US ag secretary that I read. So she's been a bit of an unknown, and that speech to me was meaningful and shows where her priorities
[00:09:41] Unknown:
lie. Yeah. I mean, I have definitely been suspicious of the amount of press tours and checking in with people. But I saw her just the other day with a a poultry farmer that I know out in in Nebraska, and I was like, man, this is not this is this is somebody you have to travel pretty far out of your way to do this. This is not just press junkets. They're really listening. So I'm I'm excited to see it, and I think if we're gonna if we're gonna take a look at pesticides, probably the best administration we're gonna get for a long, long time. Well Alright. Headline number two, Iowa landowner protection bill heads to governor as federal override looms. From the Tri State Livestock News and The Gazette, Iowa State Senate passed a bill to protect landowners from carbon pipe pipeline eminent domain in a '27 to 22 vote.
House file six three nine would give landowners more legal protections against the imminent domain for pipeline projects. However, while Iowa awaits the governor's decision, the federal house, energy and commerce committee released language in its budget reconciliation bill that could overwrite state landowner protections. Former Iowa congressman Steve King said that the federal language, quote, wipes out property rights in front of any one pipeline that carries anything that fits the definition of liquid or gas. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association opposes the state bill with executive director Monte Shaw warning very real, very serious economic consequences if the carbon capture products projects can't move forward.
Keeley, what's your take on the battle between state landowner protections and the federal authority to override them?
[00:11:21] Unknown:
This is what I feel pretty strongly about. I do believe that the language that showed up in the budget reconciliation bill, which I believe was struck, but we need to see confirmation of that. I I think it poses a serious conflict of interest because of the amount of lobbying that went into it. We have a lot of folks in the Trump administration who are sympathetic to these c o two pipelines. The conversation about c o two pipelines aside, and I do think that it's worth having that conversation, eminent domain for c o two pipelines does not make sense to me at all. And I think the American people have been very clear that they do not want eminent domain for these types of projects.
We can understand using eminent domain for a highway. That's something that we can at least discuss. But a c o two pipeline that benefits a cooperation with foreign backing, a c o two pipeline that buries carbon dioxide underground and gives billions of dollars in taxpayer money to a single entity, is that really in the public interest? Is that really in the public good? I think we have to have a conversation about that. I don't know that that's where the American people are at in terms of climate change mitigation. Is this our best solution more than, you know, planting trees, encouraging grazing practices?
I'm not convinced of that, and I don't believe that American private property rights should be for sale. Voters in South Dakota and Iowa have been very clear that they do not want imminent domain for pipelines. I think it's wrong for the federal government to override that.
[00:12:58] Unknown:
I am with you a %. We've covered this on many episodes of the program where, first of all, carbon pipelines, like, the only reason there's a market is because they're hoping to use tax money to, to be able to make somebody be able to make money off this because nobody actually wants this as a function of the free market. And so you're taking taxpayer money to put a pipeline in the ground that if it leaks, it kills people. It has killed people. And on top of all of that, you are running over the most sacred of all rights, for humans, which is property rights. And so whoever is doing this, fuck you. Like, it is not in your purview to be able to come in and say, well, if we get enough people that say we want your land, then we can just take it because you can't. And, like, that is the very core reason that we have the government around is to protect our property rights. And if the government is coming through and saying, no. Actually, we're just gonna rip these things out of your hands. Like, this is no bueno, and we should fight till the very, very bitter end on this one.
[00:14:01] Unknown:
I could not agree with you more. Yeah. Absolutely. This is a hill to die on. And if you have the threat of eminent domain looming over these conversations, then it's not really a free and open conversation at all.
[00:14:13] Unknown:
Yeah. And, I mean, it's one thing to have county eminent domain or even state eminent domain, but federal eminent domain means that somebody that doesn't even live in your state, knows nothing about it, has never set foot on your property, doesn't ever have to look you in the eye, gets to make these decisions. And if you give this power to an administration you like, we all have to remember that eventually it switches and you give this power to a group of people you don't like. And, I mean, like, that was so vague about any gas. Like, it this is this is not a good way to go. It's giving way too much power away.
[00:14:47] Unknown:
Right. And this isn't legislation to deal with the CO two pipelines themselves. It's just making corporations have to deal with the same playing field the rest of us deal in where you have to convince someone to partner with them. You don't get to hold a gun to their head because you paid the government $10,000,000, which was part of this budget reconciliation language.
[00:15:09] Unknown:
Well, I, will keep an eye on this. I know we have we have a lot of people out there on x that are talking about this, but it's one of those things that you just cannot let your guard down. And I I will always support and blow oxygen on these. And I know you, of all people, have really shown a lot of light on this. Oh, well,
[00:15:25] Unknown:
Vance, yeah, I'm so glad you're on this story. I think it's so important to everyone outside of Iowa, outside of South Dakota, outside of this immediate summit summit carbon solutions pipeline. This has huge repercussions. And I think you nailed it when you said you can't give permissions to an administration you may like knowing that a future administration can abuse those permissions.
[00:15:47] Unknown:
Alright. Moving on to headline number three, Montana becomes the fifth state to ban lab grown meat. This is from Zero Hedge. Montana governor Greg Gianforte signed HB four zero one into law banning the manufacturing and sale of lab grown meat, quote, so called lab grown meat has no place in Montana, Giaforte wrote on x, adding he is, quote, proud to defend our way of life and the hardworking Montana ranchers who produce the best beef in the world. Montana joins four other states in prohibiting lab cultivated proteins. The push comes after the Biden era policies that fast tracked approval for companies like Good Meat Inc and Bill Gates backed Upside Foods.
The FDA issued a no questions asked approval for lab cultivated chicken cells in 2023, while the USDA has yet to fulfill its regulatory rule on labeling requirements. Even as whistleblowers were comparing lab grown meat startup Upside Foods to Theranos, major meatpackers like JBS, Tyson, and Cargill have rapidly invested billions to replace ranchers with biotech. Montana state rep Braxton Mitchell said, quote, we won't let synthetic products with misleading labels undercut the hard work of Montana's farmers and ranchers. Keely, this seems like the kind of government corporate partnership, that is kind of against the independent farmer producers that you've been documenting, but you're also pretty strong on personal rights. So where does this fit with the way that you view the world?
[00:17:17] Unknown:
That's a great question. I think it's it's an interesting example of federalism. These are individual states banning these foods. So, you know, there there's a little bit more accountability to your state government. Is this reflective of what people want? I think it's probably best always to have these conversations and let the market decide. And, personally, I think that is a very compelling argument against these lab grown meat companies. At the same time, you know, when you just mentioned JBS, Tyson, and Cargill, these huge meatpackers who are consolidating against producers, putting money against producers to replace them with these lab grown options.
So we're not totally fighting a fair fight here. I think, ultimately, we need less regulation so that we can have more competition against these meatpackers. I don't think the American people want lab grown meat. I think the market has done a pretty good job rejecting lab grown meat on its own without legislation. Most of these companies are tanking. I've reported on some of the pretty wild practices these investors are using to try to get a leg up in the market, and still people are rejecting it. People don't want frank and meat. They want the real thing. And I don't know that we need this legislation, but I do think it's reflective of kind of a knee jerk reaction of the American people against more processed fake food shutting out our producers.
[00:18:46] Unknown:
Keely, you're causing a problem for me because we agree a %, and my audience likes it a lot better when I disagree. But I'm with you. I I, I think that, absolutely, this should not be done at a federal level. And if a state wants to do it, this is where I get, like, very uncomfortable because I do want states to be able to say, hey. This is how we have decided to live. This is what we want in our place. But I, you know, I wouldn't then want Montana to be able to say you're not allowed to transport, you know, lab grown meat from this state into our state or, you know, all the things that come with adding more laws. So to me, the best way to defeat this is the open market. But the way the open market has to work is lessen all the regulations so that these big meat packing houses that use regulatory moats to be able to grow all their power is actually spread out among little producers. And then all of a sudden, you wouldn't have a locker or a small head butchery, you know, or processing facility putting money into lab grown meat. They just but they would be undercutting those packers who are doing this. So to me, more free market would lower the ability for these companies to, tilt the scales in their favor.
[00:19:57] Unknown:
Yeah. That's that's really well said. I mean, the free market is always kinda the answer. Right? Because we have a great argument here. We don't necessarily need legislation to make that argument for us. But you have to acknowledge that the meatpackers and these big players, these huge corporate players are not playing fair. So we do have to address that too. It's not enough to just handicap producers or to just say less regulation when it benefits producers. We need less regulation, and we need a better, you know, Packers and Stoppers Act to actually create a more equal playing field for American ranchers.
[00:20:34] Unknown:
Absolutely. I agree. Alright. Heading into headline number four, Brazil's bird flu outbreak disrupts go global poultry trade. From Reuters, Brazil, the world's largest poultry exporter confirmed cases of h5 n1 avian influenza in commercial flocks for the first time this week. The outbreak has prompted at least 15 countries to impose import restrictions on Brazilian poultry products, flux. U. S. Poultry Producers are seeing increased export opportunities, but also heightened biosecurity concerns as the virus continues to spread globally. Industry analysts expect chicken prices to remain volatile with potential price increases for consumers both domestically and abroad.
Keely, how concerned should US Poultry Farmers be about this development? Are you is the avian flu something you've kept an eye on?
[00:21:27] Unknown:
A little bit. I do think that we overreacted in killing off hundreds of thousands of birds in this last outbreak. I I have confidence, more confidence in this USDA than the Biden USDA to protect our borders. We've seen that with Brook Rawlins, shutting down the southern border because of the new world screw worm concerns. So I have confidence that this administration has more of the producer and our local domestic producer's interest at heart than the previous administration. But I I don't think we should lose our head the way that we did under Biden and, you know, kill off all of our poultry, you know, numbers.
[00:22:07] Unknown:
Yeah. What a what a terrible government decision that sent everything going to egg prices skyrocketing to now all of a sudden we're importing eggs even though it's the first time egg producers are really making big margins. Like, it was terrible introduction into into the normally, the capitalist system. Well, I, I wanted to throw out, the regenerative, the RegenaSense, has said Indiana's way of going about lab meet is interesting. Banning it for two years, and when it's back, they'll have it clearly labeled stating what it is. It just came out alongside the Montana news. I hadn't heard that.
[00:22:43] Unknown:
That's interesting. More transparency.
[00:22:45] Unknown:
That's fair. Yeah. More transparency. I'm still not all about the band, but I see it's an interesting way to go about it. Alright. If you have interesting news that you think we should report on, then send it to me on x at Vance Crowe, or you can always send it to me at Vance Alright. We are going to head into the Bitcoin land price report. Since I didn't do the show last week, we have to reference the Bitcoin price from two weeks ago where it was at $103,500. And today, we are sitting at a new all time high of $111,000, which is up 7.3% from two weeks ago.
So, Keely, we're gonna make a little comparison between the, price of land and Bitcoin. So where do you live, and how much does an acre of land cost where you're at?
[00:23:40] Unknown:
I'm from Mendocino County, California, Northern California. That's where I'll always call home. I just looked it up. It looks like the median price per acre in Mendo right now is $14,396 for undeveloped land, around $4,928
[00:23:57] Unknown:
per acre. So there you go. Wow. And, like, Mendocino, that is one of the most beautiful counties in in all of the of the world. So I used to live there myself, so this is this is fun. Well, at eleven, at $111,000 that means that an acre of land is about 0.135, Bitcoin. Or in other words, if you had 1 Bitcoin, you could buy I mean
[00:24:34] Unknown:
I mean, that's I'm interested, but I'm not the expert. My husband's the one who handles the money in our family. That's just how we work it out. But, I mean, that's, that's pretty compelling. That's interesting. I should take more tips from you on this. We should talk offline.
[00:24:50] Unknown:
Well, I actually for the I I talk about Bitcoin all the time. I think about it all the time. People call me. They wanna talk about it. But I I there's always something that's difficult for me to express. And while I was looking looking out on social media, getting ready for the Ag Tribes report, I actually came across this short video that compares Bitcoin to land prices, and I wanted to play it here because I think it it'll be kinda fun. So, since this isn't really your area, I thought I'd show this video. We could chat about it. Only ever be 21,000,000
[00:25:22] Unknown:
Bitcoin. To truly understand just how scarce that makes Bitcoin, let's look at planet Earth. The surface of the planet spans roughly 200,000,000 square miles. And unless you're Aquaman, most of that's unusable. And okay, let's say we remove the deserts, the mountains, the forests, and the farmland. What's left is just above 32,000,000 square miles of livable land. Now, imagine dividing all of that into just 21,000,000 plots to represent each for the 21,000,000 Bitcoin. Each Bitcoin would represent over 1,000 acres, or the equivalent of about 750 football fields.
To own that much land today, you'd need hundreds of millions of dollars. Do you see how truly scarce Bitcoin is? It's like discovering the scarcest digital land known to man before the rest of the world wraps their head around it. As a wise man once said, it might make sense just to get some in case it catches on.
[00:26:26] Unknown:
So that comes from the the CEO of a company called Strike, Jack Mallers. And I thought it was kind of a clever way to put Bitcoin. How did it strike you?
[00:26:35] Unknown:
That's that's really compelling. Growing up in California, it makes me think of the folks who bought land here back in the day, and they're sitting pretty right now. So, hey, make a good argument there, man.
[00:26:46] Unknown:
I was so we've been comparing it to the price of farmland. I never thought to compare it to the price of, you know, the the land that we're currently living on. Either way, it's one land is that thing that I think connects with Bitcoin because nothing else is truly scarce in this world. Even gold, if the price of gold goes up, then they'll go buy more steam shovels, and they'll dig more gold out of the ground. Whereas Bitcoin and land, farmland in particular, we're not making any more of it, so it's a scarce asset just like Bitcoin is.
[00:27:16] Unknown:
That's a great point. That's really interesting.
[00:27:19] Unknown:
Alright. Well, we'll be back next week with, more on the Bitcoin land price report. Now we get to move to what I think will likely be quite compelling. This is the Peter Thiel paradox where I'm gonna ask Keeley, what is one thing that you believe that almost no one you know agrees with you on?
[00:27:37] Unknown:
I I love this question. I feel like there's so many things that I feel like a contrarian about these days, especially here in California. But for your audience, when I try to think about what folks might disagree with me about in the ag landscape, I have to say I have some questions about our use of the term regenerative. I think it can become a little bit, a little bit exclusionary. We tend to throw out, you know, the most important thing, which is keeping American producers in agriculture further dividing us when we're facing as much legislative, regulatory, and corporate threats as we are. I'm not sure that's always the right approach. I'm pretty pro grazing down the line, and I think those inter industry conversations are great to have. But we should have each other's backs in this industry because our enemies, so to speak, really want us gone. They don't, you know, want to just see regenerative egg. They don't wanna have to compete with American small producers at all.
[00:28:42] Unknown:
I like this one a lot. It's one that I've never heard before and haven't even thought of on my own, but I agree with you. There is so much, pushback and forth within agriculture about, you know, what practices you're doing, who's on what team that it really takes the, the wind out of the sails of the larger agricultural movement. And, I think you're right. Like, I I know for one, when I was first described regenerative ag, I interpreted it as, well, this is socialism. Because if you go read this guy's definition of it, they wanna determine how much you should have to pay people, and that's what part of their regenerative ag is. Well, I'm a % against that, so whatever that system is, I'm against. But then you start realizing, like, well, these guys are also, you know, the the way that the farm weird stuff comes up, the way they come up with new ways to do different kinds of growing. So it's not a great idea to be fully against it. So you do have to set down some of your ways of thinking about things in order that the larger picture can come through.
[00:29:42] Unknown:
Right. I yeah. Exactly. I think that the way that we're facing the current landscape, the threats against agriculture and independent producers, As it goes back to our earlier conversation, we need to do this through the market. Let the consumer lead with what they're willing to pay, educate consumers to create those opportunities. But I think forcing or threatening ranchers or using this kind of divisive language within an industry that should ultimately have each other's backs, I do think that's counterproductive.
[00:30:13] Unknown:
Well, I am gonna give you a solid eight point o on this. I'm I'm impressed. It's, it's a new and different thing. I don't think it'll make anybody too angry, but it was it's definitely an interesting one. It actually reminds me of something I saw in x that I thought I would, I would bring up here. This is a tweet that, is from Rachel Venestra Cott who is, at k state agronomy, and she said, we are officially, hashtag farming weird, an endless amount of questions to answer and challenges. And what she's showing is two different crops growing in between each other. And, like, this is exactly the benefit of these kind of out there ideas that were seen as totally, radical just a few years ago. Now coming into institutional adoption and coming up with, hey, does this allow us to grow with less pesticides, with, greater efficiency, with more bounty, all the things that can come from that. And that's why arguing about these two things, is actually probably harming us more than anything.
[00:31:15] Unknown:
Right. Exactly. I think that's it's it's important to not throw out the baby with the bathwater here. When we're dealing with lab grown meat, factory processed food, you know, we can have disagreements about how you graze, but the fact that you're grazing to me is a win. I'm always gonna be on the side of the family farmer ranch that's still doing things locally accountable to their community. I think that is always something I'm gonna support.
[00:31:42] Unknown:
Yeah. I mean, no question. Right, Red? It doesn't matter whether you're a regenerative farmer or you're farming the most conventional way that you can. If eminent domain comes through your property, it comes through your property.
[00:31:52] Unknown:
Exactly. Yeah. And sometimes these terms like, there isn't necessarily an agreed upon definition of regenerative. So I don't want that to become a weapon the other side can use to add more regulation and beat down our independence further by using these buzzwords to further restrict what we're allowed to do. While the other side, JBS, and these big players, they strip the Brazilian rainforest. They bribe officials while they go public in The US. That's that's not a future that I think is beneficial for consumers or producers.
[00:32:27] Unknown:
Well, this leads us to the final segment where we talk about worthy adversaries. And I am very curious to know who is somebody that you respect but that you strongly disagree with?
[00:32:38] Unknown:
I'm gonna keep it in the same space. Will Harris. I think he's someone I really respect. I think he has great ideas. I think he's been a great, communicator for agriculture, But I think sometimes he can be very critical of practices that I don't believe are the you know, the the best shouldn't be the enemy of the good, and I think that's sometimes the angle he takes. And maybe this is coming from my perspective as someone who speaks to urban audiences about agriculture. So I always want to defend farmers and ranchers when I think they're doing the right thing or doing their best in the situation that they're given.
But I don't always love exposing those inter industry debates to a world that can take that and just take away the message that beef is bad unless it's this very niche product. In my opinion, if you buy beef that was raised in The US, you're buying great products, period.
[00:33:38] Unknown:
Well, great. I'm always excited when somebody's willing to throw out a name and say, like, hey. This is somebody I respect and but, like, this is where we differ because this is the only way that you have better conversations. If you just keep these disagreements in your mind, that person goes on thinking, hey. I look at all these likes I got, but doesn't really say, like, hey. There's some kind of thing I could grapple with. So bravo to you. Well, we are gonna wrap up. But before we do, I am so curious to know, like, what is on the horizon for you with America On ONE? Like, what what do you see going on both for the organization that you're building, but what stories are on the horizon?
[00:34:15] Unknown:
I have a bunch of stories I'm working on right now. Actually, a couple are from Mendocino County where so if you have some familiarity with that area, you know it's absolutely gorgeous. It's also a little wild and western out there. They I was just talking to a friend who visited, and he was saying, we've got hippies in Mendocino County, but they're the kind that have a gun and will kill you. They're not they're doomsday prepper hippies. They're not like peace and love, Grateful Dead hippies. Vietnam Vets that that booby trapped their land. Like, I they're it's a wild place up there. It really is. And now we have a lot of cartel presence up there because of the legalization of marijuana locally that goes back to this, I believe, eighties or something like that. But, anyway, so I did a documentary last year on the murder of a rancher in the Humboldt County, Mendocino County border area.
And this last week, two more murders happened. One right next to his, the site where he was killed, another in a reservation town involving a drug trafficking organization. So I'm I was speaking to the sheriff about that. I'm speaking to some of the natives up there about that, what they're dealing with living on reservation land where there is less federal jurisdiction, so they're often a target of these transnational drug trafficking organizations that are governor Gavin Newsom, he doesn't give the time of day to rural California. The sheriff told me he's never returned his phone calls. So to me, that's a very undercover story, and one that I'll continue to highlight just because California, it's a it's a complex place, and I think it's easy to forget how much agriculture we have, how many good people are just trying to make a living there. I don't wanna lose that part of the state. So I I do have a lot of stories covered in California, but all over the West, really, we, there's no shortage of material. That's for sure.
[00:36:01] Unknown:
You know, going back to your thing about, Mendocino, California, that county alone is half the size of the state of Delaware. And so that sheriff is basically, I mean, in charge of so many things and to get from one side of the county to the other is nothing like traveling in Iowa or Illinois or Indiana. You're talking about like traversing through mountain ranges and totally different climates. And I mean, the people out there are extremely remote. I mean, there there are people that it takes hours to get to any kind of civilization, and, that is not being reported on. But this is where so much of it California is where this rural communities produce so much of the products that we use every day in The United States.
[00:36:46] Unknown:
Totally. I'm glad you have familiarity with it. It's not a place that a lot of people know. I love that because it it is a beautiful part of the country that I don't if you were just to be dropped in the hills of Filo or Boonville or Bell Springs Road or Covelo, you would not think you were in California. It's very rugged. It's very, very remote. It's very rural. Half hippies, half cowboys. And it's just a beautiful part of the country that unfortunately has been the victim of some of our worst ideas here in California and a state government that does not care.
[00:37:20] Unknown:
Yeah. I, I'm I'm familiar with it mostly. I've lived there for a couple of years, and I worked in community public radio. And and there, community public radio is fought over it's like life and death because it is the only medium that reaches the entire county. And so this was a place where intellectuals would come, hippies would come, old soldiers. Like, it it was an incredible place for a young 20 year old to be where I got so many responsibilities, not because I deserved them, but because nobody else was there to do the work. And it was a it was a great experience. So I I only found out about you coming from Mendocino right before we started.
[00:37:57] Unknown:
Yeah. And that's how I I love that. I got my start as a reporter there too. I was at the Ukiah Daily Journal, and I showed up at 18 and said, can I be an intern? They were like, actually, you can go be a reporter, and you can do whatever you want. And I was like, awesome. That was a great way to learn.
[00:38:10] Unknown:
Who was the editor back when you were there? Casey Meadows, I believe. Oh, gosh. I know Casey Meadows. No kidding. Yeah. We used to do all, election shows together. Yeah. So Oh my goodness. She's crazy. She was a serious woman. Very, very, like, you know, serious woman.
[00:38:27] Unknown:
Those old school editors are the best. Everyone should every journalist should have to work for an old school newspaper editor when they start out. That's the way to go.
[00:38:35] Unknown:
So I see what you were doing with America Unwon and think, what is it that we can do to blow more oxygen on it? How can people find you and how can they support you?
[00:38:45] Unknown:
Oh, that's so kind of you, Vance. Thank you. We're very bootstrapped, super grassroots. Just me riding away and a couple of documentaries that I've been able to pull together with a very talented team. You can see all of it at america u n w o n dot com. I'm also on Instagram, x, YouTube, all that stuff. Same same address.
[00:39:06] Unknown:
Well, I'm getting that, surreal feeling of, like, where you see somebody all the time on on the, you know, x to me, and, like, you actually get to meet them. And, so it was a it was a great pleasure to have you on, Keeley.
[00:39:18] Unknown:
Thank you, Vance. This has been so fun. Thank you for having me on. It was a great time.
[00:39:23] Unknown:
Well, if you are interested in having me record one of your loved ones to tell their life stories like we talked about at the beginning of the show, then go to legacyinterviews.com to find out more. You can schedule a call with me, and we can talk about either doing an interview for yourself or doing one for your loved one to capture those meaningful memories and that that way they can be passed on. Also, if you are realizing that Bitcoin is actually a finite resource and it might not hurt to get a little bit together because it might just work out, then, I recommend using the exchangeriver.com, and I will include a link on the show notes that if you buy your, Bitcoin from River using that link, it will support the show and, give you a great access to a great exchange.
So that's gonna do it for this week's Ag Tribes report. We'll be back next week with another show. And as always, feel free to disagree.
Introduction to the Ag Tribes Report
Interview with Keeley Covello
Discussion on the MAHA Report and Pesticides
Iowa Landowner Protection Bill
Montana Bans Lab-Grown Meat
Brazil's Bird Flu Outbreak
Bitcoin Land Price Report
The Peter Thiel Paradox
Worthy Adversaries and Future Stories
