Meet A Farmer: Taylor & Katie Collins
Meet Taylor & Katie Collins: How ROAM Ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas is healing 450 acres of degraded land through multi-species regenerative ranching.
Farmer’s Footprint is a nonprofit initiative dedicated to restoring human and environmental health by advancing regenerative agriculture through education and storytelling.
Roam Ranch, Fredericksburg, Texas
First generation ranchers and land stewards of ROAM Ranch, a 450 acre, multi-species, regenerative ranch in central Texas.
It was three years ago when they bought the ranch, industrially managed for the past 100 years before their hands touched the soil. Everyone in the town thought they were crazy.
The land had been doused in chemicals for years and cared for with inputs and unnatural practices. There was less than .5% of biology on the property, grasses were only alive with the support of chemical inputs, and rock-hard, degraded soil blanketed the vastness of the open landscape.
Taylor and Katie had a different vision in mind. No chemical inputs, no tilling, no monoculture cropping or overgrazing. For them, sustainability wasn’t good enough. They wanted to create a net positive return through regenerative land management, and they have.
“We are working in nature’s image to raise animals and heal the land.”
Year round, you can see the hoofprints of nearly 100 bison stamped into the soil, the chirp-chirps of a robust flock of chickens and turkeys, and the squeals of pigs and piglets roaming the land, all in strategic harmony and cohesion to support each other, increase overall health of the land, and improve the resilience of the farm.
They thought it would take ten or more years to rehabilitate the land and they’ve been able to do it in less than three. With disciplined monitoring and support from The Savory Institute, they are focused on outcome-based metrics that can be used to nurture the land better and lend to the vast evidence the impact of regenerative agriculture can have on the land, the planet, holistic land management and human health.
Here is what they are measuring regularly;
Key soil health indicators:
Organic matter
Carbon concentration
Water permeability
Key biological markers
ROAM Ranch is tracking and document ecological restoration over time so others can learn from their trials and errors.
“We want this place to be a leadership hub of land management where community leaders come to learn, adopt regenerative practices, and continue to change perception of agriculture and grow the regenerative movement. At the end of the day that’s what this is all about.”
Not only have Taylor and Katie led the transformation of their land, they also launched EPIC Provisions, the industry pioneering meat brand devoted to growing supply chains of regeneratively sourced animals on a global scale.
EPIC Provisions had a meteoric rise which led to a full acquisition of the brand by General Mills in 2016 and has since allowed this regenerative powerhouse of a family to accelerate the vision of large scale positive impact.
“It’s all about connecting people to their food.”
Taylor and Katie are constantly hosting events on site because they’ve seen the most powerful mindset shifts come from getting people out on the ranch, covered in the thriving filth of the soil, to witness the possibilities available with regenerative practices.
To support ROAM Ranch and learn more about the legacy they are planting in the depths of the soil in central Texas, connect with them at www.roamranch.com
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