My name is Travis Krause. I’m a pastoralist.
The idea of this blog is to write about farming, food and community with the intention of creating conscious discussion centered around ranching.
The idea of this blog is to write about farming, food and community with the intention of creating conscious discussion centered around ranching.
The idea of this blog is to write about farming, food and community with the intention of creating conscious discussion centered around ranching. I (Travis Krause) share my experience and knowledge and offer a unique insight into the ranching community, food and politics. Some of the content will be for everyday readers and some will be specifically for ranchers. I am going to write about what management strategies and systems have worked for us, the tools and supplies that we believe in, how to heal the land and create abundance and so much more. It’s the knowledge that I wish someone had shared with me a decade ago when I first started. If your a consumer I hope that you take the time to read it as well so that you may gain a deeper understanding of ranching and the lifestyle that surrounds it.
Mandy and I come from a long line of ranchers and farmers. Mandy is a fifth generation farmer and grew up on her family's citrus farm in McAllen, TX. I am a seventh generation rancher and grew up on the family ranch near D'Hanis, TX. We met at Texas A&M University and both graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences. We both worked as biologists and educators for several years, I was working abroad and Mandy in south Texas. While working in India, my love for books led me to Joel Salatin's Pastured Poultry Profits. I soon realized the practical limitations of my work and felt the need to learn more about agriculture. Upon returning to the family ranch I studied and experimented with alternative agriculture techniques and production methods, business management and a broad variety of subjects pertaining to agriculture. I was profoundly influenced by the writing and teaching of early leaders in the organic movement such as Gerry Shudde, Malcom Beck, K Chandler, and Joel Salatin. I always knew I wanted to spend my life on the ranch where my family has lived for generations as traditional cattle ranchers. Over the last decade my dreamy vision of ranching has collided with the culmination of experiences, experimentation and the harsh realities of life. Much of what I write about is what the ranch has meant to me in particular, and perhaps that can be translated into what it means in wider terms of the world around us.