AgEmerge Podcast 057 with Will Harris of White Oak Pastures

Thanks for joining us today, we always enjoy visiting with all our guests on the podcast and Monte was particularly excited to speak with our guest today, Will Harris of White Oak Pastures. Will has been recognized all over the world as a leader in humane animal husbandry and environmental sustainability. As a fourth generation cattleman, he and his family were raising livestock in the typical conventional methods, but in the mid 1990’s Will became disenchanted with the excesses of these industrialized methods. They’d created a monoculture for their cattle, and, as Will says, "nature abhors a monoculture." In 1995, Will made the audacious decision to return to the farming methods his great-grandfather had used 130 years before. Today, we get to journey with Will to understand the mindset, work and fortitude it takes to risk it all and successfully implement these farming practices. It’s a great conversation, enjoy!

Will tends the same land his great-grandfather settled in 1866. Born and raised at White Oak Pastures, Will left home to attend the University of Georgia's School of Agriculture, where he was trained in the industrial farming methods that had taken hold after World War II. Will graduated in 1976 and returned to Bluffton where he and his father continued to raise cattle using pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics. They also fed their herd a high-carbohydrate diet of corn and soy.

These tools did a fantastic job of taking the cost out of the system, but in the mid-1990s Will became disenchanted with the excesses of these industrialized methods. They had created a monoculture for their cattle, and, as Will says, "nature abhors a monoculture." In 1995, Will made the audacious decision to return to the farming methods his great-grandfather had used 130 years before.

Since Will has successfully implemented these changes, he has been recognized all over the world as a leader in humane animal husbandry and environmental sustainability. Will is the immediate past President of the Board of Directors of Georgia Organics. He is the Beef Director of the American Grassfed Association and was selected 2011 Business Person of the year for Georgia by the Small Business Administration.

Will lives in his family home on the property with his wife Yvonne. He is the proud father of three daughters, Jessi, Jenni, and Jodi. His favorite place in the world to be is out in pastures, where he likes to have a big coffee at sunrise and a 750ml glass of wine at sunset.

REFERENCED LINKS:
One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoQWLK8-CYE

Carbon Footprint Evaluation of Regenerative Grazing at White Oak Pastures:
https://blog.whiteoakpastures.com/hubfs/WOP-LCA-Quantis-2019.pdf

Grassfed Exchange 2016 - Peter Byck & Will Harris “A Georgia Story”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Q-GuTn3WU

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