Duke Phillips III is the founder and CEO of Ranchlands, a Colorado-based, family-owned ranch management company. If Ranchlands sounds familiar, that’s because last week’s episode was with Duke’s son, Duke Phillips IV. You may remember that the younger Duke referenced his father’s philosophies around business and leadership several times, so I thought it would be fun to have the elder Duke on the podcast for an in-depth conversation. And in-depth it was—in a little under an hour we covered a wide range of subjects, everything from the future of ranching to world travels to poetry.
Duke has led a fascinating life, starting with his early years spent growing up on a remote cattle ranch in rural Mexico. His twenties were devoted to traveling and working around the world, including places like Europe, Central America, Australia, and the Bering Sea. Around age thirty he started his first “real job” in ranching, which eventually led to the formation of his company Ranchlands. Since its beginnings over two decades ago, Ranchlands has set a new standard what is possible when ranching, conservation, education, and business are successfully combined. And Ranchlands partnership with Colorado’s State Land Board is a case study in effective, mutually beneficial public-private partnerships.
I caught up with Duke on the phone, where he was gracious enough to take time away from one of his New Mexico operations to chat with me. We started by talking about his childhood in Mexico and the lessons he learned from growing up in such a wild and remote landscape. Then we discussed the series of travels and jobs that led to his founding Ranchlands in his mid-forties. From there, our conversation hits on a variety of subjects, including the joys of working with his kids, Duke III and Tess, the ins-and-outs of the bison ranching business, and his thoughts on the recent popularity of regenerative agriculture. There’s minimal overlap between the topics covered in this conversation and my conversation with young Duke, so be sure to check the episode notes for a full list of all the interesting information discussed.
Palmer Land Trust will be honoring Duke and his family at the 10th Annual Southern Colorado Conservation Awards on October 3rd in Colorado Springs. It’s going to be a fun and inspiring evening, so follow the link in the episode notes for more information and tickets. Hope to see you there
All photos courtesy of Charles Post, who also generously donated his Ranchlands photos to Palmer Land Trust for promotion of the 2019 Southern Colorado Conservation Awards.
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Episode Notes
Topics Discussed:
- 3:30 – Where Duke grew up
- 6:30 – Lessons learned from growing up in Mexico
- 8:30 – Having patience with those new to ranching
- 9:45 – Leaving Mexico
- 11:50 – World travels and adventures in his 20s
- 14:30 – First “real job”
- 15:45 – Lead-up to Chico Basin
- 17:00 – Ranchlands explained
- 22:00- Ranchlands’ grazing philosophy
- 26:00 – Joys of working with Tess and Duke IV
- 27:30 – Keys to running a successful family business
- 29:30 – Keeping kids humble
- 31:20 – Importance of positivity in life and business
- 35:00 – Importance of honesty in business
- 37:40 – Successful partnerships with Colorado’s State Board and The Nature Conservancy
- 41:30 – Running a bison ranch
- 45:00 – Regenerative agriculture
- 48:30 – Heroes and mentors
- 52:00 – The future of ranching
- 54:00 – Favorite books and poetry
- 56:30 – Most powerful outdoor experience
Information Referenced:
- Ranchlands
- Chico Basin Ranch
- Medano Zapata Ranch
- Colorado State Land Board
- The Nature Conservancy
- Bud Williams
- Ray Hunt
- Tom Lasater
- Bill Sanders
- Allan Savory
- Duke Phillips IV podcast
- Tess Leach
- Ronald Tobias
- Pablo
Naruda - Chris Dombrowski podcast
- 10th Annual Southern Colorado Conservation Awards
- SCCA Film Trailer
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these as well:
- Duke Phillips IV – Living with the Land
- Jim Howell, Part II – Restoring Ecological Capital Through Grazing
- Jesse Womack – Land Stewardship is in His Blood
- Alexis Bonogofsky – Taking a Stand for the West
- Charles Post – Stewardship, Science & Storytelling
