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:
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!
