Protecting Agriculture Starts with You

 On this episode of North American Ag Spotlight, Chrissy Wozniak welcomes back Mindy Patterson, President and Co-Founder of The Cavalry Group, for an in-depth discussion on protecting agriculture through legislative advocacy, grassroots action, and informed leadership. Mindy explains how The Cavalry Group's Legislative Flash Map is helping farmers, ranchers, and animal owners stay informed about legislation affecting their livelihoods at the local, state, and federal levels, while providing practical tools to help citizens engage with lawmakers before it's too late. The conversation highlights why showing up at committee hearings and town halls can make a real difference, and why grassroots involvement remains one of the strongest tools for protecting agriculture and the future of American farming. 

The discussion also covers the latest Farm Bill developments and several pieces of legislation that could significantly impact livestock producers, including the Puppy Protection Act, Better Care for Animals Act, SAFE Act, Goldie's Act, and other proposals that Mindy says are often presented under appealing names while carrying far-reaching consequences for agriculture and animal ownership. Chrissy and Mindy discuss the increasing influence of animal rights organizations in legislative processes, the ongoing efforts to ban working animals such as horse-drawn carriages, and why producers should pay close attention to these issues.

The episode also revisits the Biden Administration's 30x30 initiative, conservation policies, and the continued importance of protecting private property rights. Mindy explains why she believes producers must remain vigilant, even as some initiatives appear to have slowed, and discusses the role of public-private partnerships and federal agencies in shaping future land use policies.

Throughout the conversation, Mindy offers practical advice for farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners on how to become more involved in the legislative process, attend local meetings, build relationships with elected officials, and protect the future of American agriculture. She leaves listeners with an encouraging message that informed, organized citizens can and do make a difference when they choose to engage.

To learn more about The Cavalry Group, become a member, or explore the Legislative Flash Map, visit TheCavalryGroup.com.

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Transcript

00;00;13;08 - 00;00;40;15
Chrissy Wozniak
Hi, and welcome to North American Spotlight. I'm Chrissy Wozniak. New legislation is introduced at the local, state and federal levels that can directly impact farmers, ranchers, livestock producers, and rural landowners. The challenge isn't just understanding what the bills do, it's knowing that they even exist before it's too late to make your voice heard. Today's guest has made it her mission to help producers stay informed and protect their livelihoods through legislative tracking, advocacy and education.

00;00;40;15 - 00;01;00;19
Chrissy Wozniak
And she's been on the frontlines defending private property rights, protecting working animals, and exposing legislation that could have lasting impacts on American agriculture. Joining me once again is my good friend and one of my one of agriculture's most dedicated legislative watchdogs, Mindy Patterson, president and co-founder of the Cavalry Group. Mindy, welcome back.

00;01;00;22 - 00;01;04;04
Mindy Patterson
Thank you for having me. So glad to be with you.

00;01;04;06 - 00;01;16;03
Chrissy Wozniak
So it's always great having you back for a conversation. And I know we always talk for so long. And then, the before and after filming is always, always really good conversation, too. I wish we could share it with everybody.

00;01;16;08 - 00;01;17;29
Mindy Patterson
I know, but love it.

00;01;18;01 - 00;01;36;08
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes. And then of course, at, at all of the events, we end up back together. It's I just find it just fascinating, everything that you can fit into your head. It's amazing. So for listeners who might be hearing you for the first time, can you just give us a quick overview of yourself and the cavalry group?

00;01;36;10 - 00;01;55;28
Mindy Patterson
Of course. My name is Mindy Patterson, and I'm president and co-founder of the Calvary Group, which is a member based, company that represents animal owners and lawful animal related businesses in the 48 continental states. And we advocate for our members legally, legislatively and in the media.

00;01;56;00 - 00;02;08;06
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes. Very good. And, one thing that I love about your site is you have a legislative map. So what is that and what inspired you to create it?

00;02;08;08 - 00;02;37;04
Mindy Patterson
Well, in the 16 years that we've been in business, we have found ourselves increasing, opportunities to step up our game in terms of information and getting our members to the microphone. When I say we advocate in our in our one of our membership tools is a flash map that starting in January of every year as, animal rights driven legislation is introduced and actually good bills to pro agriculture, pro animal ownership bills.

00;02;37;07 - 00;02;59;03
Mindy Patterson
We track every animal related piece of legislation at the local, state, federal levels, and we put them on this flash map. So if you're from whatever state, you can hover over the the dots, in your state indicating the bills that have been introduced and track them, because we provide links to track a little bit of a summary about the bill, our interpretation of the bill.

00;02;59;06 - 00;03;39;08
Mindy Patterson
And we're getting ready to even increase that information further with a whole new, website that we're getting ready to introduce in just a couple days. There's going to be some serious Intel within the members only portal. That's available to our members, with tools and, webinars and all these things that we're going to be providing for assistance in helping animal owners and animal related businesses, people who raise, breed and work with animals, farmers, ranchers, to get to the microphone in their local government and state legislatures to push back against all of this egregious legislation.

00;03;39;11 - 00;03;59;01
Mindy Patterson
Lawmakers don't want to hear from lobbyists. They want to hear from their constituents, and they want to hear from the people who are the ones getting their hands dirty in these animal industries, because if they don't show up, then the lawmakers are listening to the wrong people. They're going to be listening to the animal rights people, the environmental, extremists and so forth.

00;03;59;01 - 00;04;13;04
Mindy Patterson
So we're trying to provide our members with the tools to show up, articulate their opposition, and fight back. And we do everything we can to make that a seamless and comfortable effort for everybody.

00;04;13;06 - 00;04;45;01
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. For sure. And and I think the general population tends to think, and I think we're conditioned to feel like this, that we can't change anything. Right. But I know, you know, through or getting a text from you or getting one of your, your emails saying, here's a win, here's a win, here's a win. And from my experience in in visiting DC and visiting our senators, visiting our congressmen, visiting USDA, we do get wins, but we have to show up.

00;04;45;03 - 00;04;52;09
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes. So what do you say to people who who are like, I can't do anything that doesn't matter anyway? What do you say to them?

00;04;52;16 - 00;04;53;16
Mindy Patterson
Oh, boy.

00;04;53;18 - 00;04;56;23
Chrissy Wozniak
Well, nice words in well.

00;04;56;25 - 00;05;18;00
Mindy Patterson
I understand that, you know, we have members who have expressed concern that they don't want to show up. They may live 3 or 4 hours from the state capitol, and it's a long drive, and it's a lot of time to leave their farm, ranch, their kennel, whatever it is, they're animal enterprises for the day to drive all the way to the Capitol and testify.

00;05;18;00 - 00;05;44;22
Mindy Patterson
The other thing that our members worry about is making themselves a target. Well, those days are gone. You know, you're already a target, and we encourage them to get in the boat, grab a paddle and start. You know, we need to start rowing in the right direction. And what I've witnessed personally in the many years that we've been doing this kind of advocacy is that the more we show up and not just 1 or 2 people, but if you can, we can fill the hearing room.

00;05;44;25 - 00;06;08;28
Mindy Patterson
We win. It's that simple. It is about numbers. It is about our voices and the lawmakers need. And this sounds so sad, but it's true. The lawmakers need cover to do the right thing. Isn't that pathetic? But it's true. These lawmakers get very squeamish. With the animal rights groups in the room because they are relentless. And guess what?

00;06;08;28 - 00;06;34;25
Mindy Patterson
They're paid to show up there. That's their full time job is to be an animal. Rights, activist. They do. They get paid to do this. And if they don't, they're still relentless. So we need to beat them at their own game, and we need to show up and articulate why. About your business. The other thing I want to squeeze in here really quickly is that August recess is coming up for Congress.

00;06;34;27 - 00;07;02;26
Mindy Patterson
So when I talk about, you know, legislative action at the local and state level, we need to also swoop in and talk about the federal level, too, because Congress has right now we are monitoring about 15 bills at the federal level. And so there's a lot to there's a lot to to look over. And so they all leave to come home in the month of August every single year there's Congress has August recess.

00;07;02;28 - 00;07;36;12
Mindy Patterson
They go home, they conduct town hall meetings. And this year being a campaign year, they're going to be there, stumping for their reelection. So it's a perfect time to follow them on Facebook, find out, or call their local district office and find out when their town hall meetings are. Make an appointment. Make an appointment and go in and meet with them and let them know more about your farm, your business, how you raise, breed and work with animals so that they can better understand what the what's going on in their, you know, in their district.

00;07;36;14 - 00;08;02;25
Mindy Patterson
And if there are issues at the federal level with USDA or U.S. Fish and Wildlife or whatever agency, please let them know. I mean, we are we need all hands on deck with regards to things like that. And so participating at the local level also includes when the when the federal legislators come home in August, make an appointment that you don't have to go to DC to meet with your federal representatives and senators.

00;08;02;27 - 00;08;09;07
Mindy Patterson
So keep that in mind. It's really a great opportunity that we should all be taking advantage of.

00;08;09;10 - 00;08;38;28
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah, absolutely. And one thing that just drives me crazy is, these misnamed or, bills that are misleading have misleading names like this after puppy Bill and things like that. And I just being in Florida, which I love, Florida and I love what we're doing and I love our governor. But there's been some terrible legislation passed here in Florida lately, and they're all like, disguised as the soft, cute puppy act.

00;08;39;01 - 00;08;39;13
Mindy Patterson
Oh, yeah.

00;08;39;14 - 00;08;41;04
Chrissy Wozniak
Is that happening everywhere?

00;08;41;06 - 00;09;02;03
Mindy Patterson
Everywhere. That's what the animal rights groups do. Whether they really intend for the bill to pass or not, they use it as a fundraiser. They use these pieces of legislation, and they're all deceptively named, at the federal level, we have the Better Care for Animals Act. Oh, everybody's just going to trounce on that because we all love animals and we all want better care for animals.

00;09;02;03 - 00;09;40;16
Mindy Patterson
That. Yes, but the trick on that bill and this one is one that's targeted to to amend the farm bill as it continues to move in its final stages, the better care for animals Act wants to swoop in the Department of Justice to partner with the USDA to enforce the Animal Welfare Act. So you know their idea of Better Care for Animals Act includes more federal agencies that may or may not understand animal husbandry practices to come to your farm or ranch or your animal enterprise and enforce the Animal Welfare Act, in a very aggressive manner.

00;09;40;16 - 00;10;04;24
Mindy Patterson
So, you know, it's very vaguely defined. The Puppy Protection Act is another one. You know, we all love puppies and we want them protected, but it's a very, very, deceptive bill. I mean, I could go on and on. They're all, as you said, they're all deceptively named so that people who don't take the time to read the bill or don't know how to read legislation think, oh my gosh, we have to save the animals.

00;10;04;26 - 00;10;29;12
Mindy Patterson
But to that I say this, remember this. This is a very important point. Animal cruelty is already a felony in all 50 states. And it and Trump was the one who passed that, into law in 2019. It was called the Pact act. The Preventable Torture and Cruelty Act. Why do we need more laws? Animal cruelty is already a felony in literally every state.

00;10;29;14 - 00;10;56;05
Mindy Patterson
So more laws aren't going to stop those who are already in violation of current laws. That's one premise that as Americans, we should adhere to because we don't need more government, we don't need more laws, we truly don't. And we need to, really curtail these deceptive, as you've pointed out, these deceptive bills that come in and are literally just a fundraiser for these radical groups.

00;10;56;07 - 00;11;06;29
Chrissy Wozniak
So. Right. Yeah. It's crazy. So what, of all the things you're watching, what are some of the most concerning pieces of legislation that you're currently tracking across the country?

00;11;07;01 - 00;11;25;07
Mindy Patterson
Well, what's been front and center in the last couple of months has been the farm bill. You know, everybody wants the farm bill and the big, beautiful bill that passed last summer is really where the meat of the farm bill took place already. But there's still the framework of the farm bill itself that is getting ready to pass.

00;11;25;07 - 00;12;05;06
Mindy Patterson
And notoriously, it's always a vehicle for animal rights driven bills. And, the House version passed, the Agriculture Committee with, by eliminating the Save our Bacon Act, which basically was language that reversed, proposition 12 out of California. That was very owner, another animal rights driven bill by the Humane Society of the United States that passed in 2018 that basically, said that if you, you know, grow, let's say you have egg laying hen production in Iowa and you're exporting to the state of California.

00;12;05;06 - 00;12;29;11
Mindy Patterson
You have to adhere to California standards at your Iowa facility. So the Save Our Bacon Act would have reversed that, that, was, kicked off in the House version and they kept the greyhound racing ban, which was interesting. And that's another very deceptive bill because it they claim that it's about gambling, but it has nothing to do about banning gambling.

00;12;29;11 - 00;12;56;00
Mindy Patterson
It has everything to do with, curtailing and banning the breeding of greyhounds and greyhound racing. So, anyway, the Senate version, draft has recently been released, and it's only a discussion draft. So they're discussing it. And the committee Senate AD Committee has not voted on it yet. So the next step is, taking the Senate draft language and they'll mark it up.

00;12;56;06 - 00;13;23;14
Mindy Patterson
And this is a very critical time because we're watching other bills that could potentially amend it. And we're concerned about the Safe act, which is a complete ban in the United States. In addition to transporting horses across the border to Canada and Mexico for horse processing. We do not want that. That is an aspect, a necessary aspect of agriculture that we've been fighting for since 2007.

00;13;23;16 - 00;13;50;13
Mindy Patterson
And the, we're concerned that the greyhound racing ban, which is H.R. 507, is also going to be amended on to the Senate version still up for grabs. The, Puppy Protection Act is a real bill and also a contender for being, an amendment, the fight act. Interestingly enough, which is a very deceptive bill, is a contender here.

00;13;50;13 - 00;14;14;05
Mindy Patterson
I've got my notes right here about the, the fight act. You know, they want to basically, profile people for the kind of animals that they own. And the problem with this, fight, act is that, you know, people who are bird fanciers and raise game fowl are going to be pigeonholed, no pun intended. And as, participating in animal fighting.

00;14;14;05 - 00;14;44;10
Mindy Patterson
And that's just simply not the case. Across the country, there are many lawful game fowl breeders who, raise these animals for other fanciers to provide genetic diversity. They import other birds from foreign countries. They participate in lawful exhibition and breeding and other kinds of activities. But if you own game fowl, you're in the crosshairs of, the federal government where they want.

00;14;44;10 - 00;15;10;02
Mindy Patterson
And a lot of these not to not to go down this rabbit hole, but oftentimes these federal agents don't know the difference between a hand and a rooster. So they show up on your property to confiscate your birds, because they're assuming that you're participating in cockfighting. And that's the kind of stuff that goes on. And when these bills are so broadly written and defined, and if they were to become law, it just would be a mess, an absolute mess.

00;15;10;04 - 00;15;38;08
Mindy Patterson
So that's one of the bills that we're watching very closely to amend the farm bill, in addition to the Safe act, in addition to oh, gosh, there's what was the other one? Puppy Protection act? Oh, the Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act is very similar to Better Care for Animals Act, except that it would collaborate or partner the FBI with the USDA to enforce the Animal Welfare Act.

00;15;38;10 - 00;16;05;15
Mindy Patterson
What could go what could go wrong? And, so and then we have Goldie's act, which is another dog related bill. But that one is weird because if you're USDA licensed, it wants to make, what would normally be, a minor violation or what they call an indirect violation for, like, paperwork or minor infractions. They want paperwork and those minor infractions to become direct violations.

00;16;05;19 - 00;16;31;18
Mindy Patterson
And much more serious, which would prevent them from being able to be licensed. So all these things we're tracking and watching, and sometimes they move quickly and sometimes it's very, they're sneaky. You know, there are these backroom deals that happen. And, you know, one minute you go to bed at night thinking that everything is settled with the Farm Bureau, and you wake up the next day and you're like, wait a minute, how did this bill get attached?

00;16;31;18 - 00;17;10;23
Mindy Patterson
And they're voting on it the next day. And that kind of thing goes on at every level of government. And in that regard alone, it's been a very a challenging year legislatively, in state legislative efforts as well as, in Congress. And I'm, I am not a fan of amending, bills to other vehicles because I'd like to have hearings for these bills so that we can both sides can have a discussion and bring their facts and science to the, to the committee to for them to decide if a bill should come through or not.

00;17;10;26 - 00;17;31;19
Mindy Patterson
This is something that I mean, honestly, I can't even tell you. The last time there was a committee hearing for an animal rights driven bill, they keep amending them to other vehicles, and we've got the agriculture appropriations bill in September. That'll be coming up for a vote. And I guarantee you it doesn't pass on the farm bill. They'll try to amend to the agriculture appropriations bill.

00;17;31;25 - 00;17;33;09
Mindy Patterson
So.

00;17;33;12 - 00;17;34;05
Chrissy Wozniak
Well.

00;17;34;08 - 00;17;36;02
Mindy Patterson
Yeah.

00;17;36;04 - 00;17;56;15
Chrissy Wozniak
And, you know, as you know, when I was younger, I was a carriage driver in Niagara, Niagara Falls on the lake. And I know you follow the carriage issue and you fight for those, drivers and carriage owners, all over the place. And so I've been following what was happening in New York City recently, a very unfortunate situation.

00;17;56;18 - 00;17;59;20
Chrissy Wozniak
Can you tell us about that and what you think's going to come of that?

00;17;59;23 - 00;18;26;06
Mindy Patterson
Absolutely. Actually, there have been two unfortunate situations. There was a horse, a few weeks ago that collapsed and I can't remember the horse's name, but, it collapsed and died. And so all the animal rights groups and for those who aren't familiar, the animal rights groups in New York City has called nine class standing for New York for clean, livable and Safe Streets.

00;18;26;06 - 00;18;59;12
Mindy Patterson
And it's an animal rights organization that was formed by Ed Sayers, who at the time, back in 2013, when Bill de Blasio was running for mayor, Ed Sayers and Steve Kislak, who is a real estate developer in New York City who wanted the carriage stables for parking lots, organized this animal rights group, Night class and, formed this pack specifically to get the carriages banned so that they would abandon the stables and build them into, parking lots.

00;18;59;12 - 00;19;32;05
Mindy Patterson
Yeah, it's a very important piece to the puzzle because the real estate has only become more valuable. And Knight class is still the go to animal rights organization. Raising money hand over fist to ban the carriages and unfortunately, has the attention and, influence of the city council. So this horse that died a few weeks ago, at first the optics look terrible because it's like, oh my gosh, you know this, but you know, animals die as we know.

00;19;32;08 - 00;20;01;18
Mindy Patterson
And so we were they did a necropsy unfortunately, and found that the horse had been poisoned. No. Yeah. It had eaten a U plant in Central Park, which according to officials, they were unaware that this plant had been planted because they try to maintain, gardens and so forth that are not toxic to to animals or people for that matter.

00;20;01;21 - 00;20;27;23
Mindy Patterson
You know, central Park was designed for the horses. I don't know if you've been through Central Park, but it's lovely. They've they've got fountains that were designed to water the horses as they go through. It's just a really magical place. And it really is designed for horse drawn carriage rides. So they found out that this horse had been poisoned and it was not, any, any by any means neglect by the carriage driver or the horse owners or any of that.

00;20;27;26 - 00;20;50;24
Mindy Patterson
So there was that issue, but then a week later there was a terrible accident where the carriage driver, unfortunately. And the rule is the carriage driver is the first on the box, which is, you know, where the driver sit first on the box and the last off the box. So if you've got passengers, you stay in that spot, reins in hand for cautionary purposes and so forth.

00;20;51;01 - 00;21;17;15
Mindy Patterson
Well, unfortunately, I you know, and I've watched the video and, and allegedly and I'm saying allegedly because there's still a lot of questions to be answered. But allegedly the driver got down off his carriage and something spooked the horse. The horse took off. The family that was in the carriage, unfortunately, was injured, and one of the family members ended up dying from their injuries.

00;21;17;15 - 00;21;46;29
Mindy Patterson
From this terrible accident. Horrific and awful, and a first for New York carriages. Just, you know, none of us want that kind of thing to happen. However, I feel very strongly, as you know, the spokesperson for the Calvary Group and having fought for the carriages all over the country, I personally feel very strongly that you just don't ban an industry based on one bad situation.

00;21;46;29 - 00;22;15;20
Mindy Patterson
You just don't. I mean, stuff happens. People make mistakes. You know, you don't ban cars because people drive drunk or speed or get into accidents. And if you want to isolate it into the to the Central Park issues, they have, petty cabs that are reckless. And if you were to Google pedicab accidents in New York City or Central Park, you would see a huge list of accidents every year, some of which are fatal.

00;22;15;23 - 00;22;40;21
Mindy Patterson
But that never makes the news because there's no animals involved. Or if you Google, taxi cab, pedestrian fatalities, taxi cabs run over pedestrians every day in New York City and nobody seems to care. So, you know, all of this is about optics for an agenda. And it's very tragic that, you know, that family member passed away. It's awful.

00;22;40;21 - 00;23;01;27
Mindy Patterson
No one would ever want to deal with that. It's just a terrible situation. But the facts are still coming in. And, I really do. You know, now they're wanting they're pushing for the ban on the horse drawn carriages. I suspect somehow there was there were, you know, nefarious things happening in the background with the horses and all of that.

00;23;01;29 - 00;23;44;21
Mindy Patterson
Anyway, that's our stance on that. And going forward, we're continuing to, work to protect all the horse drawn carriage companies nationwide. All of them are in the crosshairs from activists. There's constant protest in Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia and San Antonio, Texas and Dallas, Texas, and all over the country. It's dumb. It's just, you know, you you shouldn't be, having to contend in that manner to protect your business, your lawful business that is regulated and inspected on a regular basis under veterinary supervision in every single city where they have horse drawn carriages.

00;23;44;23 - 00;23;55;22
Mindy Patterson
And yet we're constantly having to prove over and over and over again that we're perfect. Perfect will never be good enough for the animal rights people. So anyway.

00;23;55;22 - 00;24;14;13
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah that's it. Yeah. And it's really hard to believe, you know, just living your everyday life that there are these insane people. But I remember while I'm dating myself for 20 years ago in Niagara Falls, the activists were out and it just got worse and worse and worse. There's no way like I would be able to even deal with that anymore.

00;24;14;16 - 00;24;34;28
Chrissy Wozniak
But they truly, and they will tell you when they talk to you that they don't want you to even have a dog. Yeah, they think all animals should be free or euthanized and that it's, you know, animals have become their god, right? They that they worship. And that's the most important thing and that we should have no part in animals.

00;24;35;01 - 00;24;36;28
Chrissy Wozniak
And it's just it's so sad.

00;24;37;01 - 00;25;11;21
Mindy Patterson
It's a very sad and very aggressive agenda. And unfortunately, our lawmakers, who are the judge, jury and executioners on these matters will align with the animal rights people because they, are it's weaponized guilt. They guilt these lawmakers. Well, you must you must, agree with animal abuse if you are for the carriages or if you're for, you know, rodeo or animal exhibition, it's, you know, they believe it's slavery of animals and they'll guilt lawmakers into voting their way.

00;25;11;23 - 00;25;37;00
Mindy Patterson
And that's that is really our Achilles heel in this fight because the lawmakers that we are there with our testimony, as I said earlier, it's important to fill the hearing room with constituents and people who are engaged in the industry. But the activists scream louder. They have the time on their hands to, you know, constantly be in the face of the lawmakers and be persuasive.

00;25;37;00 - 00;25;56;22
Mindy Patterson
And oftentimes they also have the money and they'll pay these lawmakers that are looking to be reelected and need they need the money for their campaign. And that's what we're up against. So, you know, it's a steep hill to climb. But we we have had victories and we believe that the truth does prevail. But we just have to hang in there and be persistent.

00;25;56;22 - 00;26;10;24
Mindy Patterson
These animal rights people will never give up. They are relentless if they if they lose and you know, one session, they'll come back the next year. It's just so we have to be vigilant. That is for sure.

00;26;10;26 - 00;26;19;06
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah, absolutely. And do you think that producers, like the majority of producers, realized just how organized the animal rights groups have become? Like politically?

00;26;19;08 - 00;26;49;26
Mindy Patterson
I think people are starting to realize that more and more, you know, ten years ago when 16 years ago, when we started, I would have answered by saying no, because I would go around and speak to ranchers in remote areas and I'd be, you know, doing my connect the dots on activist groups and legislation. And I remember this one time back in 2013, Handsome cowboy in the back, stood up and raised his hand and said, I have to interrupt you.

00;26;49;26 - 00;27;15;24
Mindy Patterson
Could you please explain who Hsus is and why they're bad? You know, and they didn't know that the Humane Society of the United States was a national animal rights organization that pretends to care about animals, but they're all the money that people donate, goes to lawyers and lobbyists to basically eliminate their livelihood. And that's what people don't understand.

00;27;15;27 - 00;27;45;26
Mindy Patterson
You know, they're betraying Americans with their money. They're not they're not doing anything to, you know, protect animals. They're doing everything to eliminate animal enterprise. And honestly, I'm concerned about five, ten years from now, I the projections that we see for the pet industry alone is very concerning because so many licensed lawful, let's just say, use dog breeders as an example.

00;27;45;28 - 00;28;06;21
Mindy Patterson
You know, every there's such this push to get a dog from a rescue or shelter which look, if you want to do that, that's fine. That's your freedom of choice. But, these purpose bred dogs and the ability to get a young puppy that's a family friendly type of breed is going to become very hard to come by.

00;28;06;23 - 00;28;36;01
Mindy Patterson
I'm very concerned about the future of that. So we really need to, you know, step up our game, all of us, and work together in this next, in the 2027 state legislative session. And I would urge your listeners to either join the Calvary Group or, follow our website and pay attention to the flash map. As you've pointed out, that's on our website that people can follow along to see what bills are active in their state and local government.

00;28;36;04 - 00;28;54;05
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah, yeah, great, great advice. And I know every time you've been on the show, we've talked 30 by 30. And that is, the Biden administration's goal of, well, you you can introduce it and tell us, is it behind us now? Are there still pieces moving forward? What's happening?

00;28;54;08 - 00;29;04;18
Mindy Patterson
Well, you know, I there was never, an outward effort that I was aware of that, retracted it, but I guess it's been retracted.

00;29;04;21 - 00;29;05;09
Chrissy Wozniak
Really?

00;29;05;13 - 00;29;06;03
Mindy Patterson
Yeah. That's.

00;29;06;03 - 00;29;07;11
Chrissy Wozniak
Well, that's great news.

00;29;07;11 - 00;29;36;05
Mindy Patterson
Yes, but I, I've been watching what's going on out west with the dismantling of all the dams and water reservoirs and the incremental, destruction of, land ownership and farming and ranching. Biden 30 by 30, it was all about, the incremental destruction under and they named it not just Biden's 30 by 30 act, but it was America the Beautiful act.

00;29;36;05 - 00;30;15;16
Mindy Patterson
So it sounds like there you go, another deceptive title, because it had nothing to do with yes, kids of puppies. Save the kittens. Yeah, the America the Beautiful act. But it was something that was advancing. You an agenda 21, and you an agenda to basically rewild America. And by rewilding, they're wanting to take the land back to what it was before man set foot on, on, property and started adding things like dams and reservoirs and infrastructures and roads and all these other things.

00;30;15;16 - 00;30;38;00
Mindy Patterson
And that's what Biden's 30 by 30 America the Beautiful Act wanted to undo under the auspices of climate change. It was all about reducing our carbon footprint by 2030. That's why they called it 20 or I'm sorry, Biden's 30 by 30 reducing our carbon footprint 30% by 2030, which is in just a couple of years. Kind of scary to think about that one.

00;30;38;02 - 00;31;16;16
Mindy Patterson
So, yeah, it was just this collective effort under this umbrella of regulations that is are getting implemented at the local and state level to usurp ownership of private property and rewild, the countryside. And it's just very egregious and deceptive. And, within that mix are public private partnerships, which is very concerning because public private partnerships is an arm of communism, and it is where,

00;31;16;19 - 00;31;50;23
Mindy Patterson
NGOs basically fund our regulatory agencies to do their bidding. So we've talked a lot about that at American Women. And, have thought that on Capitol Hill at our Fly-In. And it's always astonishing to me how even lawmakers aren't aware that this is at play. And we have these NGOs that are literally funding the USDA's NRCs program to implement their agenda, to, do things that most taxpayers don't even know that's happening.

00;31;50;26 - 00;31;51;17
Mindy Patterson
It's terrible.

00;31;51;17 - 00;32;14;04
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. That's it. Yeah. And and if they're focused on, you know, the 2% of farms that's, you know, they've still have 98% that aren't paying attention. And that's, that's a huge problem. And as you know, coming from Canada and, and now I'm nine months, I think, away from becoming an American citizen, which is very exciting.

00;32;14;12 - 00;32;14;22
Mindy Patterson
Yes.

00;32;14;29 - 00;32;46;00
Chrissy Wozniak
Very the in my journey, I guess, from there to here is really the this, unique American, I guess cherishing of, of private property and it's, it's beautiful and it's necessary and it's true. And, yeah. So I'm glad to hear that for now, that initiative has been I'm sure it's been put on hold until another administration.

00;32;46;03 - 00;32;55;05
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. But we need to stay very vigilant about those things, because if you don't truly own your land, then anything could happen to it, right?

00;32;55;07 - 00;33;27;04
Mindy Patterson
That's right. It's the cornerstone of our founding. It's the cornerstone of our Constitution. It's the cornerstone of our American way of life. And, and honestly, it was something that our founders was our founders were most concerned about that, you know, when they wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and, the Bill of rights. And they wanted they were concerned that they hadn't emphasized the ownership of private property enough because they, you know, the king of England owned everything.

00;33;27;07 - 00;33;59;02
Mindy Patterson
They, you know, and we talk a lot about in our office at the Cowdery Group, how, you know, the King of England even owned the wildlife, because here in the United States right now, the wildlife is even owned by the state in some states. You know, Minnesota being one, they've gone through a terrible time with, Tim Walz as governor and and he acts like the King and it's just really you look at that and you compare it to, you know, the founding of America and why we fled England and declared independence.

00;33;59;02 - 00;34;12;02
Mindy Patterson
It's like, wake up America. And then after, you know, the recent primaries, I'm sure you saw on the news that Colorado elected a congresswoman who's a socialist.

00;34;12;04 - 00;34;15;12
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes, yes, it's wild to me. Totally wild.

00;34;15;20 - 00;34;20;26
Mindy Patterson
Will she take her oath of office swearing to uphold the Constitution? I wonder?

00;34;20;28 - 00;34;21;17
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah.

00;34;21;20 - 00;34;26;23
Mindy Patterson
Are they going to change that? I am, I will be watching, you know.

00;34;26;25 - 00;34;27;11
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes.

00;34;27;18 - 00;34;34;00
Mindy Patterson
Very concerning, very concerning times. But it's a time for us all to stand.

00;34;34;03 - 00;34;34;24
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes.

00;34;34;26 - 00;34;59;24
Mindy Patterson
We all have to stand together. And I and I know where you stand and you know where I stand. But we want everybody to. To stand with us on this and join the cause, you know, you know, join us and, and show up with us in committee hearings and other events where we're we're needed to, because we we have to stick together on this.

00;35;00;03 - 00;35;01;10
Mindy Patterson
Absolutely. Yeah.

00;35;01;12 - 00;35;03;12
Chrissy Wozniak
And food affects everybody.

00;35;03;14 - 00;35;04;19
Mindy Patterson
So my gosh. Yeah.

00;35;04;19 - 00;35;25;10
Chrissy Wozniak
So if you're a listener not even involved in agriculture, this is something that affects every single person. But on the flip side, what gives you hope? Are you seeing any encouraging trends, any specific lawmakers stepping up for for agriculture? What are you seeing? That can give us some hope.

00;35;25;12 - 00;35;50;21
Mindy Patterson
What I'm seeing, what I saw this year, are people waking up and willing to get involved in the process. People who have never wanted to engage in the legislative process before have joined in the in the, whole effort to go to committee hearings. And like I said, when that happens and we're able to fill the room with 20 to 30 people, we win.

00;35;50;21 - 00;36;14;17
Mindy Patterson
And we had some victories this year because of that. But, you know, it's been on their own gumption that people have made that decision to to do that. As far as lawmakers go, this was an interesting year for us because we witnessed a lot of shenanigans and caught some state lawmakers doing things that were, not good.

00;36;14;20 - 00;36;37;05
Mindy Patterson
And I, by and by not good. I mean, me trying to be sneaky and hiding the fact that they were supporting animal rights driven bills and then telling us to our face that they were going to make sure that it died in committee, or that it died on the floor of whichever chamber. And that was a lie.

00;36;37;05 - 00;37;03;09
Mindy Patterson
So we had to, hold some lawmakers accountable in several states, and that's uncomfortable. I'll be honest. I you know, everybody says you know, loves to say we have to hold our lawmakers accountable. Well, yeah, we do, but we have to do so in a way that, is within certain decorum. You know, I right? I don't like what the left does.

00;37;03;09 - 00;37;26;27
Mindy Patterson
I don't like their bully tactics. I am very anti bully. And so we have to make sure that if we engage in holding our lawmakers accountable, that we do so in a very, professional manner. I'm a big believer of that. But yeah, we were successful in that, way in a handful of states and, caught them at their own game and exposed it.

00;37;26;27 - 00;37;50;24
Mindy Patterson
And was we were able to kill bills before they were voted on in full chamber. But it was very uncomfortable. I don't like doing stuff like that. So, yeah, to be honest. Yeah. But that, that's, that's what happened this year and and that's what gives me hope because more and more people are willing to, meet with lawmakers to say, don't do that.

00;37;50;24 - 00;38;05;04
Mindy Patterson
You know, we're watching you. We see you, we're watching. Yeah. But, but I'm also really tickled to see more people getting involved in the process. And I hope that increases next year. That's a goal of ours, right?

00;38;05;11 - 00;38;09;17
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. That's awesome. And and thanks for thanks for all the work you do.

00;38;09;20 - 00;38;17;23
Mindy Patterson
Oh, sure. Well you too. You're you're working out there every day on the same stuff. We're all in the same boat.

00;38;17;25 - 00;38;31;08
Chrissy Wozniak
That's for sure. And finally, where can people learn more about the Calvary Group and, access your map and all of your resources? And of course, how can they become members? You don't have to own livestock to be a member.

00;38;31;13 - 00;38;55;22
Mindy Patterson
That's right, that's right. It's all at the website. Which is the Calvary group.com. And make sure you spell cavalry like the military infantry, not the church. It's cavalry. The cavalry group. And, we were founded, originally, the cornerstone of what we provide for membership is protection against illegal search and unlawful seizure. And so you know, the cavalry is coming.

00;38;55;24 - 00;39;17;20
Mindy Patterson
So that was the the reason we named the organization. We we did because we wanted to be there, Johnny, on the spot for people and while those instances don't happen frequently, they do happen, unfortunately. And so we fill most of our time with legislative advocacy, on when we're while we wait for the emergency number to ring.

00;39;17;20 - 00;39;33;02
Mindy Patterson
So it's it's busy over here. But, we love what we do. And it's the cornerstone of protecting, the. Well, what we do is protecting the cornerstone of America. So.

00;39;33;05 - 00;39;55;03
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Mindy, thank you so much for joining me again. Every time you're on the show, I, I walk away with a better understanding of really what's what's behind the scenes. I know that our listeners appreciate your practical advice, too. I do hear it come back to me and and really, your commitment to protecting agriculture and property rights.

00;39;55;06 - 00;39;56;07
Chrissy Wozniak
Thank you. So much.

00;39;56;10 - 00;39;58;02
Mindy Patterson
Thank you for having me.

00;39;58;05 - 00;40;13;02
Chrissy Wozniak
And thanks to everyone who's listening. If you'd like to learn more about the cavalry group, or, or explore the map, you can find the link in the show notes. And don't forget to subscribe to North American Egg on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and really, wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day!