Chadd Wright says a fight over a Georgia cattle farm has become personal for his family, and he is using his platform to warn others about what he sees as a dangerous use of government power.
In a recent episode of Truck Talk on the 3 of 7 Project YouTube channel, Wright said his cousin in Georgia owns a working cattle farm on 70 acres of land. According to Wright, his cousin is younger than him, has worked hard for years to buy the property, and built a new home there for his wife and two children.
Wright said the land is not idle or forgotten. It is a working farm, a family home, and the center of his cousin’s livelihood.
Now, he said, a power company wants to take a few acres “right smack dab in the middle” of the cattle farm to build a substation.
Wright Says The Farm Represents Years Of Work
Wright described his cousin as someone who worked his “butt off” to buy the land and build the life he wanted on it.
“He has just gotten after it,” Wright said. “He’s worked hard for a long, long time to be able to have this cattle farm and do what he loves to do.”
That personal connection is what gave Wright’s video its force. He was not talking about an abstract property dispute or a news story from far away. He was talking about a member of his own family.
Wright said the power company would offer market value for the land, but he argued that market value does not solve the deeper problem if the owner does not want to sell.
His concern was simple: if his cousin refuses, the land could still be taken through eminent domain.
“You know they’re just going to take it from you,” Wright said.
The Eminent Domain Concern
Wright referred to eminent domain as the legal tool that allows government to take private property for certain public uses, usually with compensation.
He pointed to another project in North Georgia where he said government came in on behalf of a power company and took thousands of acres from people whose families had lived on the land for generations. That land, he said, now helps generate power.
Wright made clear that he understands electricity is a public service.
“We’re all thankful that we have power,” he said.
He also said his cousin understands that side of the issue because his cousin is a lineman by trade. In other words, Wright is not arguing that power infrastructure has no value or that substations are unnecessary.
His argument is that the process can be unfair when a utility can target land that someone is actively using, especially a farm that supports a family’s way of life.
That is where this kind of dispute becomes emotional. A few acres on paper can look small, but a few acres in the middle of a cattle farm can disrupt fencing, movement, pasture layout, future plans, views, noise, safety concerns, and the basic feel of the land.
“There’s Got To Be A Better Way”
Wright said there has to be a better way for Americans to solve power-infrastructure problems than giving a company the ability to take land whether the owner wants to sell or not.
“If you have a working farm, that’s a little different,” Wright said.
He compared that to a power company taking land from a hunting camp or a patch of ground no one is actively using, though he still questioned forced takings at any level.
Wright said that if someone wants to use land he owns, land he worked for and purchased, that person or company should have to pay his asking price.
“If you want to come in and take that land, you ought to have to pay my asking price,” Wright said.
He admitted some people would call that extreme. A landowner could ask for a million dollars an acre, he said, but in his view that is the point.
If a company does not want to pay the asking price, Wright argued, it should shop around for another nearby landowner willing to sell for less.
That argument may not fit the way eminent domain law works, but it captures the frustration many property owners feel. They do not see land as a simple commodity. They see it as work, family, memory, and future plans.
A Working Farm Is Not Just Empty Dirt
Wright’s strongest point is that a working farm is not interchangeable with unused land.
A cattle farm is built around layout. Where fences run matters. Where water sits matters. Where animals move matters. Where a house sits matters. Dropping a substation into the middle of that kind of property is not the same as buying a small detached lot somewhere else.
Wright said his cousin bought the land to work it and make a living from it. That, to him, should carry special weight.
“If I’m making a living off of the land that I bought, you ought not, especially in that case, be able to come in here and take it and drop a freaking substation on it,” Wright said.
There is a fair public debate to be had here. Communities need reliable power, and power infrastructure has to go somewhere. But Wright’s complaint is that the burden can fall heavily on one family while everyone else benefits.
That is the hard part of eminent domain disputes. The public may receive the service, but the individual landowner absorbs the loss.
Petition Seeks Awareness
Wright said his cousin’s family has started a petition and that he would put a link in the description of the episode.
He described the goal as building awareness and starting a conversation about whether eminent domain can be handled differently.
Wright said he does not have every answer. He framed his view as common sense: if someone wants land badly enough to build on it, and the owner does not want to sell, then the price should have to be high enough to make the owner willing.
That may be emotionally satisfying, but it also raises the exact question at the center of the issue: how should society balance public infrastructure needs with private property rights?
Wright’s answer leans heavily toward the landowner. He believes a power company should either find another way, choose another property, or pay what the owner says the land is worth to him.
A Local Fight With A Bigger Message
Wright said he wanted to share the story because it was close to home.
“This is close to home cuz it’s my cousin,” he said.
He called the situation a joke and criticized the country’s approach to property rights when utilities and government power become involved.
The video was not a legal breakdown, and Wright did not present documents, maps, or a full statement from the power company. It was a personal warning from a man who believes his cousin’s farm is being threatened by a process that ordinary landowners have little power to resist.
That is why the story is likely to resonate with people beyond Georgia. Many Americans may never face eminent domain, but the fear behind it is easy to understand: you work for land, build on it, raise a family there, and then someone with more power decides it would be useful for something else.
Wright ended by asking viewers to sign the petition if they wanted to support the family’s effort.
For his cousin, the issue is not just a few acres. It is a cattle farm, a home, and the principle that land someone worked to buy should not be taken lightly.
Wright’s message was blunt: power may be necessary, but that does not mean a family farm should be treated as the easiest place to put a substation.
Gary’s love for adventure and preparedness stems from his background as a former Army medic. Having served in remote locations around the world, he knows the importance of being ready for any situation, whether in the wilderness or urban environments. Gary’s practical medical expertise blends with his passion for outdoor survival, making him an expert in both emergency medical care and rugged, off-the-grid living. He writes to equip readers with the skills needed to stay safe and resilient in any scenario.
