8/31/26

Bengs calls out Rounds for being a hypocrite

Earth haters like Mike Rounds have a disproportionate influence on the farm bill and to nobody's surprise it's the usual suspects who spend an overwhelming majority of the money. Now, with Republicans driving a $40 TRILLION debt and more than even the defense lobby lavishes on politicians  the US Chamber of Commerce, Bayer, American Crystal Sugar, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Koch cabal flood Republicans like Rounds with cash according to research compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists. 

As a result most ag products and non-organically grown meats in the United States are contaminated with atrazine, neonicotinoids, glyphosate, dicamba, DDT, mercury, lead, PFAS, E. coli, mycotoxins, Imazalil plus other toxins and pathogens.

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8/29/26

Black Hills Mushrooms booted from right wing farmers market, opens new venue

Black Hills Mushrooms was ousted from the Black Hills Farmers Market following closed-door board meetings in mid-August 2026. This decision directly involved Earth hater Heather Maude, the high-profile co-owner of Maude Hog and Cattle, who serves as the President of the Black Hills Farmers Market Board of Directors. 

Accusations of vendor favoritism and market "gatekeeping" quickly surfaced, with patrons pointing out conflicts of interest regarding how booth spaces and product rights are allocated by the board. Vendor fees for the Market range widely from $51 to $612 per season depending on the length of the agreement and the specific type of space or vendor category.

Recall that on January 6, 2021 the attack on the US Capitol was a climax of an anti-law enforcement movement emboldened by the 2014 Bundy standoff. So, it's hardly surprising that Earth haters like Cliven Bundy and Harriet Hageman are defending Charles and Heather Maude because they hate what they call the administrative state even as it benefits them. 

The US Department of Agriculture's Forest Service Supervisor Jack Isaacs (now retired), Special Agent Travis Lunders and District Ranger Julie Wheeler received death threats just for doing their jobs then were thrown under the bus by the Trump Organization's agriculture secretary. Extremists are screaming that Agent Lunders came unannounced to the Maude ranch in 2024 in full tactical gear to serve the summons to appear in district court because the Maudes blew off civil remedies after breaking federal law. The Forest Service denies the agent was outfitted with "any tactical uniform, gear or assault weapons" even though it is widely known property owners in that part of South Dakota are militantly opposed to gubmint especially those of Democratic administrations but love all that subsidized crop and livestock insurance anyway. 

The charges have been dropped but the case is not resolved after the Maudes allegedly stole access to public land by claiming it as their own then after being advised of their crime flouted its repercussions because Democrat Joe Biden was sitting in the White House. But, the blame lies with the State of South Dakota, Custer County and the lawyers who drafted the Maude Family Trust and neglected to order a survey. 

Maude Hog and Cattle has been providing product to Wall Meats which is heavily subsidized by the USDA and Charles Maude has received some $300,000 in ag subsidies since 1995. 

In a Saturday morning phone conversation with an interested party the owner of Black Hills Mushrooms, Alan Carner, revealed that Maude is hardly the only member of the extreme white wing on the Farmers Market board and has reached out to Dakota Rural Action, Rapid City Sustainability and the City of Rapid City. Mr. Carner officially established the Black Hills Producers Market whose grand opening takes place today, August 29, 2026, located on South Street in Rapid City. The new market aims to bypass board restrictions and offer an open platform for regional growers, makers, and artisans to sell directly to the public. 

Heather Hamilton Maude is a Wyoming native and her parents are Trump supporting Earth haters, too. She writes an occasional column for the right wing rag, Tri-State Livestock News.



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8/28/26

Internal poll levels South Dakota's US Senate race

"An August 13-17 poll of 500 likely voters showed the U.S. Senate race tied at 44% each between Navy veteran Bengs and two-term Senator Rounds, with 12% undecided. When given balanced positive details on both, Bengs led 52% to 40%. The survey, conducted by Impact Research for Bengs' campaign, reveals Rounds' vulnerabilities like a -10 favorability rating and criticism from some Trump voters as too tied to corporate interests. Though forecasters see the seat as safely Republican, the results hint at a tightening contest ahead of November.
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Current Polling USA Senate Model: Democrats are at 53 seats (+1) Republicans are at 47 seats (-1) (% Change With Previous Week's Model)

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— Polling USA (@usapolling.bsky.social) August 28, 2026 at 10:50 AM
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8/27/26

Poll sez Osborn tied with Ricketts

Unaffiliated candidate for US Senate in Nebraska, Dan Osborn is facing Earth hater Pete Ricketts.

Records obtained by Flatwater show an attempt last year by Dan Osborn staffers and allies to disband a political party, which could have benefited Osborn. A spokesman for Osborn’s campaign said Osborn “had nothing to do with the Legal Marijuana Now Party activities.”🔗 buff.ly/vBkYAoN

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— Flatwater Free Press (@flatwaterfreep.bsky.social) August 26, 2026 at 2:05 PM
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8/26/26

Earth hater Noem Peters apparently a chip off her mother's block; Goss cautious

In South Dakota the Chinese ring-necked pheasant is not wildlife but it is a canary in a chemically and genetically engineered coal mine.
As for pheasants, they don’t stand a chance. Although the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department claims pheasant numbers rebounded somewhat in 2014 and 2015, because of two back-to-back warm winters, the overall trend looks bleak. Why? Because urbanization and industrialization of rural Dakota isn’t slowing, it’s accelerating. Consequently, habitat is going to continue to fall under the plow, bulldozer and backhoe. And there is nothing, and no one, who is going to stop it, especially not Gov. Dennis Daugaard and his lame pheasant recovery task-force. [op-ed, Robert Schneiders]
But a shaky cease fire in the attempted extermination of native species to prop up the pheasant industry has taken effect after the state's former Republican governor put bounties on raccoons and skunks known to feed on prolific invasive zebra mussels. In South Dakota over a hundred native species are at risk to the Republican Party including the endangered pallid sturgeon, paddlefish, black footed ferret, northern long-eared bat, the black-backed woodpecker that feeds on bark beetles and a bird that actually walks underwater – the American dipper, just to name a few.

An increasing number of scientists believe the US Fish and Wildlife Service isn't doing enough to crack down on red states that flout or simply ignore protections for vulnerable species so now some 80% of original grassland ecosystems are gone. Ag producers have destroyed shelter belts to plant industrial crops that deplete aquifers and now drought is blowing toxin-laden topsoil into downwind states. Another early spring wildfire season began in Nebraska, eastern Colorado, western Kansas, the panhandles of Oklahoma, Texas and other Republican-held areas where moral hazard and poor ranching practices routinely decimate the high plains. In the last 10 years alone, the US lost more than 50 million acres of grasslands.
 
In 2013 the eldest daughter of Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem (KLAN) was injured in a vehicle rollover apparently after learning to drive from her mother.
Kassidy [Noem] Peters, development officer with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, whose national office is based in Watertown, addressed the Brookings Rotary Club regarding the organizations’ mission and growing impact across the region. Since 1970, grasslands have declined by 53%, making them one of the most imperiled ecosystems on the planet. The program has also succeeded in opening previously landlocked public ground, creating new opportunities for hunters. Peters shared the story of a Kansas hunter who discovered the program through a podcast, made the drive to South Dakota, and has returned every year since. [Brookings Register]
The good news? Some 1.3 million invasive pheasants were put to death by hunters in the state in 2025 in addition to the intentional culling of about 30,000 farm-raised fowl at Gisi Pheasant Farm because of the H5N1 bird flu outbreak.

Creighton University's Ernie Goss follows the economies of ten midwestern states including South Dakota's where the manufacturing sector lost about 800 jobs over the last year or 1.8% of its manufacturing base, ag workers still face severe stressors and a mental health provider shortage affects at least 62 of South Dakota's 66 counties.
The state’s farm and ranchland price index fell to 47.8 from July’s 55.0. South Dakota’s August new hiring index dipped to 50.8 from 52.5 in July. According to trade data from the [International Trade Association], South Dakota exports of agriculture goods and livestock for the first half of 2026, compared to the same period in 2025, slumped by $30.1 million for a 39.8% fall. The greatest downturn in South Dakota ag exports were to Mexico with a 50.5% drop from 2025 to 2026. [Rural Mainstreet Index]
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