Ep 18: Duke Phillips on Sustainable Ranching & Livestock

Duke Phillips is a third-generation rancher living in Wyoming. He is the CEO of Ranchlands, an agricultural-based business that operates large-scale cattle and bison ranches in the American West that are dedicated to conservation and sustainability. They partner with conservation-minded owners to implement ambitious and complementary programs, including hospitality, hunting and fishing, a leather shop, strategic advisory services, and ecotourism.

Duke's journey has led to creating a set of core beliefs that balance ranching, conservation, and economics. He leads the strategic vision and business development oversight of Ranchlands' ventures and managed properties.

Quotes:

• "Regenerative agriculture should include humans too. You want to be having a good time, be happy with what you're doing, and have a healthy community and healthy family while you're doing it." 
• "Nature is powerful as hell."

Topics Discussed:

• How Duke got started in ranching 
• The origins of Ranchlands
• Business diversification and land conservation
• Combatting draughts and building contingency plans
• Yellow Stone the show
• Misconceptions about ranchers
• Understanding bison, the national mammal 
• The differences between managing Bison and Cattle 
• How education has become a core piece of the business
• Duke's thoughts on what conservation needs today 
• How to live symbiotically with nature
• The importance of questioning a company's motives before supporting them
• The dichotomy of urban sprawl and what to do about it 
• How nature has impacted Duke
• A Rancher's essential gear
• Being alone and not having Amazon Prime
• Brewing beer from home
• The ecological benefit of rewilding & how it affects land
• What it's like being a cowboy
• The importance of keeping family as a priority

Resources Mentioned:

• Ranchlands
• Ranchlands Mercantile
• The Nature Conservancy
• Smith Sunglasses 
• Swarovski Optik
• Filson
• REI
• Show: Yellowstone
• Musician: Steve Earl
• Book: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
• Book: Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner
• Book: The Teachings Of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
• Book: Dune
• Book: Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World
• Podcast: Mountain & Prairie 

The Adventure Made Podcast is sponsored by Rewild Gear. Essential gear built for the great outdoors, designed to fuel your next adventure. Come find your wild at RewildGear.com!