The Ranch Podcast

Brody Harshbarger is one of seven Idaho Fish & Game commissioners directly appointed by the Governor, a rancher, and a wildlife enthusiast. He also has grizzly bears walking around his yard where his children play. Much conversation has been had regarding ranchers on public lands and what that relationship should be with wild predators, but very little is being said for individuals who are eng...

Dr. Julie Yamamoto is a former Idaho State representative and chair of the house education committee, and is also currently on the board of several charter schools. She is a member of the group Idaho Children Are Primary and has insights into the difficulty with educating large populations of people and what we can do to improve our system. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are...

Travis Ruby is the Eagle Chief of Police. Eagle PD recently busted a local massage parlor that was engaged in the sex trade as well as many other things. Chief Ruby spoke at length about the myriad of issues that having a crime center like this brings to our area as well as root causes of said services. This was a sobering conversation, but understanding what is being done to protect my family, yo...

David Lent a District 33 Senator and recently waded into the School Choice discussion. Many people have criticized School Choice bills for having little or no accountability from the state on private schools that get state funding. Senator Lent has proposed a version of this but also indicated that if we are going to offer private schools funds with no strings attached, then we should do the same...

Bill Mitchell is an attorney and advocate for equal rights in Idaho. He graciously came in to explain a large confusion most people have regarding employment law. Idaho is a right to work state as well as an At Will state, but even with these two designations, you cannot fire people for a protected reason, like their race or gender. You can, however, fire them because they are gay. Although title...

Elliot Tolbert is the manager and resident chef at Northwest Premium Meats. In this episode he brought in his slow cooked Buffalo Hump Birria Tacos, and let me tell you, they were INCREDIBLE. By far the best protein I have had in years outside of my own person Ribeye. The variety of meats that NW Premium offers paired with the right recipe is truly incredible. Check them out if you’re curious! And...

Alison Rabe is a District 16 Senator and passionate about addressing the housing crisis in Idaho. Idaho prices have skyrocketed in recent years, but rents have also jumped up as well making Idaho and specifically the Treasure Valley one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the nation. Senator Rabe has several ideas about addressing this issue, and rent control is NOT one of them. Enjoy! The...

Brandy Furiani is the Executive Director of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce, and she brought in a gluten free, vegan brownie with some kind of witchcraft in it. It was incredible. We had a great time as always and are winding up to showcase more incredible local options for all us Treasure Valley folk. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation,...

Tracy Basterrechea is the Chief of Police in Meridian, Idaho. He has been in public service for several decades and is a champion for continuous officer training. He and the Chief of Police Association are also advocating for a revision in the law regarding searches of felons in the absence of a parole officer. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media F...

Jeremy Kitzhaber is a vet, cancer survivor, and advocate for medicinal marijuana in Idaho. In his extensive medical procedures, he has found marijuana to be the best assistance for things related to diet and weight gain. He also believes there are ways we can regulate it to minimize cross over problems with underage and non-medical use. Idaho as a state has been staunchly against any legalization...

Ron Nate is the President of Idaho Freedom Foundation. In this conversation, we spoke extensively about the Grocery Tax, School Choice, Foreign labor, the fundamental drivers of economics, and more. He always provides an exciting conversation for sure. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbi...

Megan Egbert is a District 17 Representative and sits on the Health and Welfare Committee. The difficulties with staffing rural hospitals and providing adequate medical specialists for the citizens of Idaho are profound. We fundamentally do not have enough education options to grow our own professionals within the state, and attracting them from other parts of the country is exceedingly difficult...

Dean Cameron is the Director of Insurance in the state of Idaho. Property insurance and access to such is a huge concern in this age of wildfires, and nationally we can see heartbreaking examples of states and insurance companies at odds, which ultimately results in losses for individual citizens. Idaho is working extremely hard to make sure that insurance companies have good reason to voluntarily...

Brian Brooks is the former executive director of Idaho Wildlife Federation and the current VP of Advocacy & Threats Program for American Bird Conservancy. The Bird Flu is a big concern nationally, both from a scientific standpoint and from a consumer standpoint as we see our supply of eggs and chicken decreasing alongside prices rising. There’s also the ever looming threat of the disease succe...

Rick Naerebout is the Director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. The Dairy Industry nationally has been in a horrible bind since 1986, which was the last time there was a meaningful reform made to unauthorized workers in the United States. Because dairy is an agricultural industry, BUT it requires year round labor, the only real mechanism to get a foreign employment base is to have those indivi...

Luke Mayville is a northern Idaho native and has been at the center of three recent citizen lead initiatives: Medicaid Expansion, School Funding, and last year’s Prop 1. He came in to speak about his experience with the initiative process as well as why he feels that increasing the voter threshold from a simple majority to pass to 60% voter approval to pass is a mistake. Voter initiatives have a r...

Lauren Necochea is the head of the Democratic Party in the state of Idaho. This is her second visit in the legislative session, and we talked extensively about different tax issues, flags in public schools, energy production, and more. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast Legislative Session episodes are supported by Truth In Media Foundation, a non-profit media organization committed to unbiased, Idaho focus...

Charlie Lyons is a multi-decade Idaho rancher who found himself at odds with BLM over fire management for almost two decades. In a heart breaking and awe inspiring story, Charlie told me about being at odds with government agencies and what it took to find a way to both work with the establishment and also be an instrumental part of protecting his property and other Idaho ranchers’ properties. I f...

Doug Pickett is a District 27 Representative and sits as Chairman of the House Education Committee. He was formerly on the Revenue and Tax Committee and does not have a background with the Ed Committee. We spoke at length about what he sees in education, what Idaho does with tax dollars, what he sees as the value of small rural schools vs larger, urban schools, and more. Enjoy! The Ranch Podcast L...

Lori Den Hartog is the District 22 Senator in Idaho and is bringing the first School Choice Bill of the 2025 Legislative session forward this coming week. This is structured as a refundable tax credit and would be available to anyone who educates their children outside of the public school setting. There are a lot of details involved, and Lori and I spoke about many, including what accountability...

Codi Galloway is the District 15 Senator in Idaho and served one term in the same district as a representative from 2020-2022. She has a background in education and business and deeply cares about children, both on an education front as well as prosperity front. There is an increasing population of homeless individuals and children and increasing cost of living in Idaho and especially the Treasure...

Rob Gillis is a law enforcement advocate and president of the organization Idaho Tough on Crime. He works with many legislators advocating for bills and revisions in law to support law enforcement, and we spoke specifically in this interview about enhanced sentencing for a criminal who murders a police officer with the Bolter-Stall Bill as well as a bill that would deliver the possibility of capit...

Mike Miraglia is a former Boise PD detective and the current legislative chairman for the Idaho Fraternal Order of Police. We spoke extensively about the utility and value of license plate readers in detective and police work. The value spans immediate use for things like bank robberies or in the pursuit of the would-be assassin on the golf course that targeted our president elect as well as longe...

Lori Wolff is the Administrator of Division of Financial Management for Gov. Little's office, which means she is intimately aware of what is in Gov. Little's proposed budget. There are pages of key points of the budget, but we spoke specifically today about the Labor market (a topic where Idaho leads the nation in many places) and about Law Enforcement. This was definitely the first of m...

Melissa Wintrow is the District 19 Senator for and has been in the legislature for 10 years. She came in to speak about human rights issues in Idaho as they pertain to same sex marriage and discrimination based on sexual preference. This was an eye opener for me for many reasons, but specifically I did not know that it is 100% legal in the state of Idaho to fire someone from a job or evict them fr...