Ranchers Under Attack—How Trump is Fighting Back

In Caputa, South Dakota, the Maude family has worked their land for five generations. But under the Biden administration, that legacy was nearly destroyed. Charles and Heather Maude, owners of Maude Hog & Cattle, were criminally charged for grazing and planting crops on a 25-acre stretch of land their family had tended for decades—land that the U.S. Forest Service suddenly claimed was federal.

Let me be clear: this wasn’t about cattle. This was about control. And it was political.

The Maudes were targeted by radical bureaucrats who made them the poster family for “regulation by prosecution.” As if their way of life was a crime. As if ranching in America was now an act of defiance. All for a fence line that’s been in place since World War II.

“When this hit, it hit at the heart and soul of our place that has been in Charles’ family since 1910,” Heather Maude said, after both she and her husband faced up to 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines combined (DTN Progressive Farmer). Now get this—all they were doing was allowing their cows to graze on land that no one else uses or can see. We’re not talking about private property. We’re talking about land that we the people own… and we approve.

But God stepped in.

And so did President Trump.

Thanks to Trump’s direct intervention—and his order to “put Americans first”—the Department of Agriculture announced the charges have been dropped. Permanently. “We are ending regulation by prosecution in America and investigating how and why this wrongful prosecution of an American ranching family ever occurred in the first place,” said Brooke Rollins, USDA Secretary and Trump’s longtime ally (DTN Progressive Farmer).

You want to talk about justice? This is it.

You want to talk about taking back America? This is what it looks like.

It’s no secret the Maudes were attacked because they stood in the way of bureaucrats eager to control rural land, push families off their property, and consolidate power under the banner of “conservation.” But when the Maude family was backed into a corner, they didn’t crumble. They went to their knees. “The Maude family, too, faced with destruction at the hand of the state, made their appeal to heaven—and Providence answered” (DTN Progressive Farmer).

In the words of Rollins: “They will not be driven from their home, they will not be jailed, they will not be fined, and their children will grow up with the mother and the father they love and who love them” (DTN Progressive Farmer).

This wasn’t just a win for one family. It was a win for every American who still believes in faith, family, and freedom. And yes—President Trump is taking back our agriculture, our land, and our food supply.

And it’s about time.

Because as Proverbs 21:1 declares, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord… He turns it wherever He wishes.” This week, He turned it toward justice.