Farming, cows and laws with Senator Randy Lemm

In today’s episode, host Emmery Mehlhoff visits with Senator Randy Lemm from Hillsboro, North Dakota. A long-time Traill County Farm Bureau board member, Randy is a familiar name in Farm Bureau circles. He farms and ranches with his wife, Julie, and their daughter, Ellie, and her husband, Luke, and daughter, Reagan. Reagan is the 6th generation of the Lemm family on the farm.

Randy visits with us about his diversified operation, balancing time between the farm and Bismarck, and how important it is for farmers and ranchers to take time to serve in the North Dakota legislature. 

Join us for this episode. 

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Get to know and contact Senator Randy Lemm https://ndlegis.gov/biography/randy-d-lemm

The session is drawing to a close, so be on the lookout for our 2025 Legislative Session Report! Subscribe to our Legislative Front (https://ndfb.org/news/signup/) to learn about changes in the law that may affect you and your farming operation.

Email us at emmery@ndfb.org

Transcript

[Straight Talk theme]

[00:11] Emmery: Welcome to Straight Talk with NDFB. This is your host, Emmery Mehlhoff. Today I visit with Senator Randy Lemm from Hillsboro, N.D. Randy Lemm is a familiar name in our Farm Bureau circle as he is a farmer and rancher who serves as a Traill County Farm Bureau officer. He visits with me about his operation where he raises crops and Hereford cattle with his wife Julie, and his daughter Ellie and her husband Luke. We talk about spring farm operations, balancing time between the farm and Bismarck and how important it is for farmers and ranchers to take time to serve in our legislature. Join us for this episode. 

[Straight Talk stinger]

[00:49] Emmery: Today I'm visiting with Senator Randy Lemm. Senator Lemm is from Traill County and he also has served on our Traill County Farm Bureau board. He has been a senator, I believe this is his third session, if I'm correct. Senator Lemm, thanks for joining me this morning.

[01:08] Senator Lemm: Thanks for the invitation, Emmery.

[01:09] Emmery: Could you tell us a little bit about who you are, where you come from, your ranch, your farm.

[01:16] Senator Lemm: I'm Randy Lemm from Hillsboro. We live about eight miles south of town. I'm living on a farm just a mile away from where I grew up. Fourth generation on the farm and farm with my wife Julie and our daughter Ellie and her husband Luke and their little girl Reagan. So Ellie and Reagan would be the fifth and sixth generations. We raise barley, corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat, sometimes sunflowers were pretty diverse crop wise. We have Hereford cattle, small cow calf operation and we also have a small feedlot where we do some feed some of our own cattle and we custom feed some cattle for some people and I've been doing it pretty much my whole life. So went to NDSU, got an animal science degree at NDSU.

[02:07] Emmery: You're right in the Red River Valley. Were you the only one in your area to have cattle or are you the only one left to have cattle? Is it...

[02:18] Senator Lemm: Well, it's been a long time since there's been many cattle at all in our area and I'm currently there's one other guy that has a few head but we're the only two people in Kelso Township that have any livestock. And it's... I guess my dad always said it was first mistake was buying me my first steer for 4-H and that's where I, that's where the bug bit me there. And I, people give me a bad time about having mad cow disease. But we spend probably, probably 75% of our income, 80% of our income comes from the farm, but 75 or 80% of our time is spent on the cattle because that's what we like to do.

[03:05] Emmery: Yeah. Do you see some benefits from integrating both the cows and the crop side or is it more the lifestyle that you're after?

[03:14] Senator Lemm: Well, it's a combination of that, I guess. Integrating the livestock into the cropping operations, over the last few years we've done more of that. We try to graze the cattle out on the crop fields after the crop is harvested. We have some alfalfa in the rotation so that's good for the soil. We're transitioning into no till. So I think this is part of the process of having livestock out there. And I say the more we can keep them out of the yard, the less work we have to do hauling manure and all that other stuff. So it works out well in a lot of different ways. And the lifestyle, I just enjoy being around cattle and horses and that kind of thing.

[04:01] Emmery: Well, you know, the separation of the livestock from the land and being more of a just a one, one thing show is more of a recent thing. I mean, where you're at, I think that the integration of cattle and maybe this is just because I have cows in a crop area, but I think, I think that we're going to see a growth in livestock in previously crop predominant areas. I think growing interest and probably with growing prices in the... for the cows. I personally think we're going to see begin to see some of this reintegration.

[04:39] Senator Lemm: Well, I. Yeah, I kind of think that too. And I don't know if you want to call it taking a step back in time or whatever, but that's, like, you're right. It used to be everybody had had some livestock as part of their farm, just being more diversified. Our three girls all grew up around livestock. So it did... learn a lot about life, your own livestock.

[05:01] Emmery: You can skip the birds and the bees conversation anyway, so.

[05:04] Senator Lemm: Yeah, exactly.

[05:06] Emmery: Yeah, well, speaking of diversification, you have really diversified your time over the last few years and being the Senator for your district. Can you tell us a little bit about how you wound up in that position? It has been three sessions now, hasn't it?

[05:25] Senator Lemm: Yeah, three full sessions. I was actually appointed in 2019 because our senator, Arne Osland from Mayville, he had a stroke and so he had to step down. And a neighbor of mine called, friend of mine called me and asked if I would be interested in that stepping in to fill in for him. And I said I'll have to think about it. And when I went home and told my wife Julie about the phone call immediately she says, "Well, you said yes, didn't you?" 

And that kind of, kind of blew me away. And over the next week, we spent a lot of time visiting with family and all this stuff. And I guess it was kind of a sign because everybody told me, "You got to try it." So I stepped in. It was right at the end of March in this session, in 2019. So there was one month left of the session. I compared to sitting at a basketball game and you're sitting in the bleachers watching the game and all of a sudden the coach comes up to the bleachers and grabs you and says, "Get in there and play. Just suit up and play. Don't worry about practice or warm up or anything. Just get in there and play." And that's kind of the way we started out. And then I was elected to 2020 and then elected again in 2024. So this is my third full session and it's been a good experience. It's a little bit every two years you have to dedicate four months of your life for doing this kind of thing. So that's one of the drawbacks. But being able to have, have some influence and try to make sure that the things that go on out here that affect everybody, at least have some input in what, what we're doing out here.

[07:07] Emmery: Well, I think you're good example of what North Dakota's Legislature was intended to look like, which I mean, in North Dakota we have a citizen legislature which is different than several states where it's a full-time gig and that becomes what you do. All of you down there are full time doing something else. And this is your, you have to take almost vacation to come out and do this, so...

[07:30] Senator Lemm: Yeah, I tell people I have a real job and then they have this political job. So that's. We just had a bill yesterday that would have, if it had passed, it would have moved us into having a yearly session. And thankfully we were able to defeat that in the Senate here yesterday. But on the one hand, the positive would be we'd be out of here by the end of March and we could get home and get ready to farm. But on the other hand, you'd be looking at spending two and a half or three months every year doing this. And I think it would actually be growing government, in my mind. It would cost us a lot more to the state a lot more money to do something like that.

[08:13] Emmery: Yeah, I mean, think about everything that happens in one session and the laws that change and they increase. Honestly, most session government does increase. And so you multiply that by two, it's hard to imagine that government's going to get smaller in that scenario.

[08:31] Senator Lemm: Right.

[08:32] Emmery: Yeah. And that is. And that's something that's been a Farm Bureau policy for a long time, is Farm Bureau has historically seen the value of a citizen legislature and the value of agriculture, individuals being in office and how important that is, and has seen how an annual session can take some of that away and make it harder and also increase government. And so with that being said, how have you seen your involvement in Farm Bureau, particularly, helping you in your responsibilities as a senator?

[09:10] Senator Lemm: Well, I guess being involved over the years with the policy process in Farm Bureau and that, for the most part, pretty much aligns with the way I think about things. And it's good to have that policy book as a backstop for the things that we're voting on. And Farm Bureau has a very good lobbyist that we see here every day, and he's not afraid to weigh in on things and really enjoy his perspective on things. I guess it's a little frustrating to me sometimes when I go home and there's an awful lot of people that really don't follow what we're doing unless they see a headline in the paper or whatever. And those aren't, a lot of times aren't totally accurate on what they report. And so that's a little frustrating to me.

[09:56] Emmery: It seems like headlines are primarily oriented to get people all upset about something so that they can get readership. But I think that's why groups like Farm Bureau are so important to get the information out to their members and say, "Hey, this is the issues that matter to agriculture. These are the policies that you've given us. Here's what's actually happening in the session." And sometimes that information isn't, you know, I mean, it's not splashed on the media quite as much, but, you know, that's where, like, following different organizations, legislative updates, can really help people know what is actually happening and how it will impact agriculture.

[10:33] Senator Lemm: Well, in the Senate, there's 47 senators, and I think I haven't actually taken a count, but there's like 5 or 6 of 47 that are actual farmers. And then there's, you know, there's a handful... There's a group of other people that are, well, they're kind of removed from the farm. They aren't farming, but they have the farm background. So they. So they know the, some of the ins and outs of what we go through. But there is definitely an urban portion of the legislature as well that don't really know what we, what we do farming. And some of them, I will admit, I really don't know what you guys do other than you raise food. 

So having Pete Hanebutt here to the lobby and with the commodity groups, Stockmen's Association is always here. Julie. They've developed a pretty good rapport with people and have pretty good reputations that people trust what they hear from them. And I think as a, as a whole, we do depend on the lobbyists for information because this time we had over a thousand bills that we had to go through and you just can't know everything about every one of those subjects. So you have to rely on other legislators that maybe have more expertise in that area. And the lobbyists too, they do provide good information. If a lobbyist isn't being straightforward with you, that reputation gets out in a hurry. I think most everybody lobbyists tend to have a bad name, maybe nationally, but around North Dakota, we do depend on them for information.

[12:16] Emmery: Yeah. In North Dakota, particularly, the vast majority of the people who are...have the name of lobbyists are really there so that the citizens of North Dakota don't have to spend every day there and...

[12:29] Senator Lemm: Exactly.

[12:30] Emmery: They're representing different groups of citizens or you know, a lot of times businesses in North Dakota who've come together and I mean even, even the representation of the counties and townships, they're there to represent those county governments and township governments. And I mean, there are a few sometimes interests that come in, in North Dakota that may be particularly anti our North Dakotan way. But the vast majority of everybody is really like, okay, these are the interests of the people of North Dakota. Here's what they are, you know, make decisions.

[13:02] Senator Lemm: Yeah.

[13:03] Emmery: So that being said, I mean, it's obviously your passion in talking with you. Like, you are a farmer and a rancher at heart, and that's probably where you wish you were right now just with it. I mean, I'm looking outside and it's pretty nice...

[13:18] Senator Lemm: Pretty darn nice out today.

[13:21] Emmery: Yeah. And the sun is shining and I think it's going to dry out really fast. But you're there, you know, serving your constituents in your community. What would you say to, you know, what would you say to farmers and ranchers who are currently farming and ranching? What advice or what kind of encouragement could you give them to look seriously at putting in some kind of service, whether that is running for Senate or House, as you're serving, or just looking at local government? What, what would you be your encouragement for them.

[13:55] Senator Lemm: Well, it's gotten down to where there aren't a lot of us left out in the country that are actual producers. And I would say, you know, if you're not on some kind of a board with say Farm Bureau or farmers union or the township board, that's, that's the best place to start. If we don't, if we don't advocate for ourselves, there's not many other other people that are going to do it for us. So, and I was a bit guilty of this too. I just thinking I don't have time for this, but really you can't afford to not take time to do some of this stuff because our future depends on it. Agriculture and oil are the biggest, the two biggest industries in the state. The state gets a lot of its operating money from the energy sector. But I think agriculture and the whole scope of things, I think agriculture is probably the biggest industry in the state. We have our ups and downs. We're kind of on the downside on at least on the crop side of things right now. But that, you know, it's, anytime you're in a commodity market, things cycle, we got the cattle to lean back on that are doing exceptionally well right now.

[15:02] Emmery: Nice to be able to say that, isn't it?

[15:04] Senator Lemm: It is. Yeah.

[15:06] Emmery: Going back to that diversification thing, that's where your cattle in Red River Valley, where maybe some of your neighbors laughed at you, actually are looking at you thinking you're looking pretty good right now. So.

[15:16] Senator Lemm: Yeah, yeah, it was one part of the cycle where maybe look so, so bad after all.

[15:22] Emmery: Yeah, I really think that is good advice. I mean, thinking about the whole geniusness of the United States is really a nation of people who govern themselves. And that starts with yourself controlling yourself, governing your own body.

[15:38] Senator Lemm: Yeah.

[15:38] Emmery: And then the family and then going on into the community, governing the community and then the state and then the nation. And I think when it comes to North Dakota, like you said, being a primarily agriculture state, that is our biggest industry. And it, I mean it is the biggest industry that's still operated by primarily North Dakotans and North Dakotan families.

[16:02] Senator Lemm: Individual operators.

[16:04] Emmery: Yeah, individual operators versus any company or corporation or any other industry. That's. That's really unusual. And so I think that gives... puts us in a very unique and important position. I mean to. And a responsibility, like you said, to run for office and make sure that we're represented and that this is what we're about. Is there any other legislation that you want to touch on or...

[16:30] Senator Lemm: Well, we're getting down to the end of the session. They've got April 30th is the target date to be done. I've heard comments both ways that we should be able to get done before that. And I heard from one of the guy's in the House this morning and he says, well, I'm not putting any money on the April 30 yacht. He says, so. But with the two. That probably the two biggest issues we have, obviously the property tax issue, there's still three different bills dealing with property taxes that have to be worked through. They're in the appropriations process. And while the one we actually voted on to pass both houses and that's kind of the governor's plan, we made a few changes in the Senate. And so that's in the conference committee. They're going to have to be hammering out those differences. 

There's two other bills that are still hanging out there. Those two versions would give agriculture a little bit of relief on property taxes, where this 1176 is the one that they're working on right now, which is strictly primary residences. 

There's two different bills that are still alive dealing with school choice or these education savings accounts. There's two different versions of that, and those are the bills we've heard the most feedback from residents on. We'll see what happens there. I think my thought is we're given primary resident holders at least, are going to be getting property tax relief. And private schools are mostly in the big cities. Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, Minot. So to me, their property tax relief can be used towards their schools, their private schools. That's kind of my thought on it, but I'm probably in the minority on that. But I usually don't say a whole lot on the floor for when we're debating things, but that might be an issue that I bring up when we get to debating that stuff.

[18:17] Emmery: We've said this all season, all session. Is that the money, the property tax is going to be the dominant conversation. And really looking at how do we implement a good, strong property tax philosophy that's good for North Dakotans is what you guys have been hammering out. I really appreciate the work that you've done to represent agriculture and our producers.

[18:42] Senator Lemm: Well, like, that's kind of my. Where my passion is, and that's the next couple of generations are coming, so we have to keep. Make sure that it stays strong.

[18:51] Emmery: Yeah. Yep. Keep that. I mean, six generations of the Lemm family, that's pretty impressive. So yeah. All right. Well, thank you, Senator Lemm, and thank you for visiting with me today. And I hope that you guys wrap up soon so that you can join your family out in the field and get back get back to the sunshine and the dirt.

[19:11] Senator Lemm: Well, that's. Yeah, that's what when we had crossover, people ask would when we got back, people would ask, did you have a good crossover? And I said yes, I was able to get some grease on my hands and manure on my boots. So it was good.

[19:24] Emmery: That's good. Bring it to the Capitol. Drop it off.

[19:27] Senator Lemm: That's right.

[19:28] Emmery: Yeah. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. 

[Straight Talk stinger]

[19:34] Emmery: Session is drawing to a close, so be on the lookout for our 2025 legislative session report. Subscribe to our Legislative Front and find out how changes in agriculture law may affect you and your operation. As always, if you have any questions, reach out to me, Emmery, at emmery@ndfb.org or visit us at ndfb.org.

[Straight Talk theme]