George Whitten, along with his wife Julie, own Blue Range Ranch (also known as San Juan Ranch) located in the high desert of Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Originally pastoralists, George and his family have been ranching on the same land for well over a century, and have been practicing regenerative agriculture and holistic land management since 1893, long before either of those terms even existed. Sam Schmidt, a New York City-area native, joined the ranch in 2020 through an apprentice program, and is now the Assistant Ranch Manager, alongside his partner Noelle. George, Sam and I speak about the rise and fall of industrial agriculture, the challenges of making a living from land stewardship, what it means to bridge the divide between environmentalism and agriculture, and how taking a regenerative and holistic approach to the land also means applying those same principles to our relationships and communities.
neat to see you interview ranching folk. on my first field ecology class almost all my students were involved in cowboying, ranching or horses in some way and it really made for ripe convos intersecting domesticated animals and the environment.
neat to see you interview ranching folk. on my first field ecology class almost all my students were involved in cowboying, ranching or horses in some way and it really made for ripe convos intersecting domesticated animals and the environment.
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