The Ranching Wife and the Rancher's Husband

Situated in north central Texas within the Blackland Prairies ecoregion and the Richland-Chambers Reservoir watershed, Navarro County holds an abundance of rich soil and receives an average annual rainfall of 40 inches, resulting in a wealth of agricultural production. Travel about 70 miles south of the DFW metroplex, and down a dirt road just outside of Corsicana, and you will find yourself at the gate of The Trail of Faith Ranch.

An operation comprised of a few hundred acres of both owned and leased land, the property is a breath of fresh air, a step back from the hectic and cluttered pace of modern life, and the home of Doug and Susie Winters and their herd of longhorn cattle. Envision a topographically diverse landscape of upland and bottomland pastures, overflowing with native plants, water, wildlife, insects, and productive soils. This piece of heaven on earth is the result of a deeply motivated vision and over a decade of endless hard work. It is a testament to what can be achieved through education, consistent application, and devotion. 

Arriving at this chapter of life did not happen overnight; it took the Winters half a lifetime to find themselves in this pasture. Rewind to the formative years of adolescence: both Doug and Susie were raised in agricultural communities, albeit within two different realities of Texas’s many ecoregions. Doug grew up in Huntsville, Katy, and Pattonville with a father who was an Ag teacher. After a childhood spent raising animals and participating in FFA, Doug went to Texas A&M University. Susie grew up about 500 miles west near Pecos, Texas -- “in God’s country, where there is a pretty girl behind every tree,” as Doug details it -- where her family ran about 250 head of cattle across 15 sections of land. It is through these two similar backgrounds that Doug and Susie cultivated a passionate love for land and animals, along with a management ethic founded on land stewardship. Doug purchased their property in 2006 and initially leased the land for grazing to a local rancher. In January of 2011, Doug and Susie officially became the Winters and relocated to the Trail of Faith Ranch together.

As an outsider, it’s easy to romanticize the Winters’ lifestyle; although their life is full of intrinsic value it is not all wildflowers and sunsets. There are plenty of dark, cold mornings, days or weeks of shouldering the work of two people because your partner is away or out of commission, surprise ice storms, and seemingly endless days over 100°F. Doug and Susie persevere through life’s challenges because of their shared motivators. Chiefly, their goal for running cattle and doing so with a holistic perspective is “to provide healthy food for [their] family while also caring for and regenerating the land.” They want to provide their children, grandchildren, and community the best food possible. For Doug and Susie that means meats that are free of synthetic chemicals and enriched with minerals. 

This desire for clean food is closely intertwined with their passion to do right by the ecosystem. The Winters live within the knowledge that the daily choices they make have a direct effect on their local flora community, soil health, wildlife stability, and water quality. Moreover, the management of their water quality goes far beyond their property lines, one of which follows the course of Chambers Creek. Their land management efforts ultimately contribute to the water quality in the Richland-Chambers Reservoir, which provides clean drinking water to over two million people every day in north Texas. 

As their operation continually develops, their motivations also follow. Their reach within their community has revealed a shared passion for education. The methods of management that the Winters employ are a part of a slowly but steadily shifting mindset within the ranching community. They have found themselves hosting individuals from near and far who are starting down a similar path. Setting aside this time for community education ultimately feeds into their land stewardship goals because there is strength in numbers -- more ranchers with a desire to improve water quality and soil health will ultimately result in more resilient agro-ecological systems. 

Finally, and arguably most importantly, Doug and Susie are unshakably motived through their relationship with each other. Neither of them can say enough about how the other is pivotal to their operation, contributing communication, creativity, and companionship. They reflected that “If you can survive a marriage working cows you are probably going to be okay. In fact every couple should work cows before they get married!”

To achieve their goals of land stewardship and healthy food production, the Winters employ high density rotational grazing with their longhorn cattle. This management practice includes using a high stocking rate for a short time period, and then frequently rotating the animals across several subdivided pastures. As described by the NRCS, “The goal is to utilize grazing livestock hoof action from high density stocking to mix plant residues and manure with soil to improve the nutrient cycling process and microbial activity. The improved soil health will lead to increased plant diversity, vigor, and water infiltration. Wildlife should also benefit from this grazing system.”  

What does this look like on The Trail of Faith Ranch? There are many miles of electric cross fencing to selectively divide the property into smaller pastures. The pastures are strategically set up in a wagon wheel formation around each pond, and the ponds are outlined in fencing in such a way that the cattle can drink but not wade. The riparian area is also managed with planned short durations of grazing. All of this set up takes a specific and planned effort and there can be quite a few learning curves. Still, the Winters happily tout that, “Even in our mistakes it still always beats continuously grazing.” The Winters achieve all their goals fundamentally through diversity: they support diversity within their prairie system and they have diversified their sources of income. In addition to beef production, they raise chickens for meat and eggs, Susie cans and pickles products, and Doug still has a conventional day job! Recently they opened a public market on their ranch, The Trail of Faith Market. This serves as platform to sell their products and engage their community by selling other local agricultural and cottage industries. 

Not all business goals result in a balanced economic benefit and environmental benefit, but this has not been a challenge for the Winters -- the Trail of Faith Ranch’s business plan thoroughly addresses both needs. When asked about the economic benefits they experienced as a result of their management style, without hesitation they quickly listed: more cattle result in more money, no lost profit to purchasing feed, and a more resilient ecosystem. Put simply, they are able to run more cattle across their property with a high-density rotational grazing plan compared to conventional continuous grazing methods applied across the same acreage. The cycle of intense grazing, exclusion, rest, and regrowth forces the cattle to eat all the available food rather than just focusing on their favorites. This ensures that each pasture provides fresh, nutrient-dense, diverse forage each time the cattle revisit. They have experienced the resilience of their land time and time again through drought and flood with an ever-present lush and balanced stand of grass and an improved riparian area along Chambers Creek. 

Why exactly do the Winters experience these benefits from their management choices? Although there are many facets, two dominant reasons are improved soil health and an increased rate of water infiltration. The NRCS summarizes the actions taken to improve soil health and increase the rate of water infiltration into three points: manage more by disturbing less (where disturbance can be physical, chemical, or biological), diversify soil biota with plant diversity, and keep a living root growing throughout the year. “These systems can increase infiltration, reduce evaporation, moderate soil temperature changes, increase rooting depth, increase nutrient uptake, and improve the water-holding capacity for most soils. These improvements lead to better crop resilience during drought. In some circumstances, they also provide for ground-water recharge. Additionally, increased infiltration rates decrease runoff, thereby reducing sediment and nutrient loading to streams as well as reducing flood volumes.” The choices that Doug and Susie make on a daily basis are not only providing direct economic benefits but also direct benefits to the resilience of the ecosystem. 

Part of the Winters’ holistic management plan includes setting goals for the long-term future. In a large-scale sense, they are mindful of who will be the next generation of land managers, as their second and third generation family members are all actively a part of the ranching operation. Their main goal for whoever the next manager might be is that the same type of management be carried out into the future to ensure continued ecosystem functionality. Looking to the future, they would like to quantify the effects of their management practices on infiltration rates and forage nutrient and mineral content. Doug and Susie both find deep satisfaction in the continuous learning and planning processes of running their ranch.

No, it is not all wildflowers and sunsets on The Trail of Faith Ranch, but at the end of every day, month, and year the Winters find a profound fulfillment in the work they do and would not trade it for the world. Their list of gratitude is rich, from the luck they feel to “have NRCS folks in [their] area like Brandon Bing and Ben Davis who truly value the work [they] do,” to the peacefulness of mindfully being a part of their landscape, to the rewarding relationships with their cattle, and knowing they are making a positive difference in the lives and ecosystem around them. 

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