Family Beat Criminal Indictment for Farming Generational Land
Seeing the Maude family’s land and operation puts a federal indictment into real-world context
It’s one thing to hear a headline about a federal indictment over something small like a fence line.
It’s another thing to stand on the land, walk the fence yourself, speak with the owners, and learn about the family that nearly lost generational land because of it.
In this farm tour with Charles and Heather Maude, we wanted to add real-life context to a story that’s often reduced to headlines and legal language. You see the cattle, the hogs, and the infrastructure. But more importantly, you hear the unfiltered impact on a family when enforcement escalates faster than due process.
The Maudes didn’t just wake up one day in conflict with the federal government. Their operation has been managed, grazed, and worked for generations. The land in question wasn’t secretly farmed or altered by them in recent years. In fact, much of it sat untouched while the family actively tried to resolve the boundary issue through surveys, land trades, and existing federal tools meant for situations exactly like this.
Instead of resolution, they were indicted on four criminal counts for “theft of government property.”
It’s easy to miss how thin the line can be between a civil disagreement and a criminal prosecution when power is unevenly applied. The Maudes are a testament to the resilience it takes to keep farming when the pressure isn’t just weather or markets, but the weight of the state itself.
Watch the full farm tour below:
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