Trey Patterson - Tradition, Innovation & Excellence at the Padlock Ranch in Wyoming

Trey Patterson is a thoughtful steward at the Padlock Ranch in northern Sheridan County, Wyoming and southern Big Horn County, Montana. Trey and his team are committed to achieving balance among five elements of purpose in order to put the Padlock Ranch in position to be here for generations to come.

• Human excellence – having good people
• Preservation of our natural resources
• Being a positive contributor and influence in the community – both local and within the ag industry in general
• Financial excellence – being profitable to be sustainable
• Being an emblem for the ownership family

We had a fun conversation winding from the depiction of ranch life on the hit series “Yellowstone” to the limitations or challenges within academia of researching biological systems. We talk about the balance between tradition and innovation, the availability of water in the context of encroaching development, and – with the abundance of information available at our fingertips – how to tell the difference between good information and bad information.

I hope you enjoy this episode with Trey!

--- FULL EPISODE NOTES WITH LINKS @ https://truestewards.com/trey-patterson ---

--- TOPICS DISCUSSED ---

1:43 – Trey Patterson’s path to the Padlock Ranch

4:25 – The Five Elements of Purpose at the Padlock Ranch

9:19 – Balance between tradition and innovation

13:46 – Discussing management practices that enhance biological systems

18:20 – Thinking of time-controlled grazing as a way to replenish your bank, which is your soil and root structure

24:05 – Unmanaged or ungrazed grasslands

28:23 – Working with conservation groups to improve water systems on the ranch

31:25 – Professional development for ranchers and the importance of verifiable information

34:04 – The limitations of academia when it comes to systems work 

35:50 – Urban encroachment, hobby farms, and the availability of water

37:38 – The importance of a safe, nutritious, and affordable food supply

39:52 – Using life cycle assessments to better understand contributions to greenhouse gas emissions

45:20 – Comparing the beef cattle industry in the US to other regions of the world

47:00 – Why is the consumer perception of what producers do different from what farmers and ranchers say they do?