Wylie Harris
 Rancher

Contact Information


Key Issues
sustainable grazing systems; farm and ranch diversification; farmland preservation; local food systems

Biography
Wylie Harris and his family operate a cow-calf ranch as part of an extended five-generation family farm on native and improved pasture just outside of Saint Jo, Texas. On his farm, Wylie is working to develop more ecologically-based grazing systems, and exploring alternatives for farm and ranch diversification. He has a Ph.D. in rangeland ecology and management at Texas A&M University.

At A&M, he has been a guest lecturer and teaching assistant for various ecology and natural resource management courses, and formed and led a reading group on sustainable agriculture. Wylie has spoken to high school and elementary student groups on topics involving ecology, agriculture and sustainability.

Education
Ph.D. in Rangeland Ecology and Management, Texas A&M University
B.A. in Biology, Reed College

Articles and Publications

Markets Ignore Mad-Cow Report

Green Grass and Murray Greys: Beaver Creek Farms' Direct

From Beta-carotene to Omega-3s: The ABCs of Health and Nutrition in Grassfed Meats

I Dream a Highway: RIP for the TTC

Something Old, Something New: Turkey's Organic Farmers try to Survive Their European Honeymoon

Where the Grass is Greener: Natural/Organic/Grassfed Beef Production and Marketing

Dare You Can Take to the Bank: Alternative Farm Enterprises and Agrotourism

Growing Food and Community: CSA Takes Root in Oklahoma

They Ain't Making More of It: By George, a Tax Plan That Funds the Schools and Saves the Farm

Talking Turkey: Ghosts of Farming Future

Future Farms 2004: Digging Deeper

Power of Concentration: Local Ruminations on Global Ruination

Geographically Speaking: The Gains in Pain Come Mainly in the Plains (extended version)

Farm-to-School Pilot Project: Melons Carry Seeds of Change

Bull Corn: The Maize Maze of U.S.-Mexico Agricultural Trade

World is What We Eat: Food Choices and Climate Change

Sweetest Deal: Cane, Corn, and Campaign Cash

School Food: Texas Cuts the Crap in School Cafeterias

Redskins, rednecks, and ragheads: Thoughts on apophenia and inevitability

Organic Before Organic Was Cool: Oklahoma Rancher Raises Profits on Pasture

Fitness Factory

Blown Off Course: Immigrants, Food, and Farming in the Americas

Geographically Speaking: The Gains in Pain Come Mainly on the Plains

Treated Like Dirt: Rural People from Poland to the Plains

Letter to the Editor - Food for Thought

ISSUE BRIEF - Small-scale, Grass-based Ranching: A Safe, Healthy and Sustainable Beef Alternative

Manure Management: Getting the Smell Out of Farm Policy

Home-Grown Solution to Hunger: Austin's Green Corn Project

Letter to the Editor on Urban Agriculture

Letter to the Editor in Response to "The Oil We Eat"

Commentary - Sane Cow Disease: Will Ranchers and Consumers Catch Grass-Fed Fever?

Mad Cows, Mad System: What the Two Washingtons Could Have Taught Us About Meat Safety - and Why They Didn’t

Conservation on the Farm - For Fun and Profit

What's In a Name? Corporate Chicanery vs. Consumer Rights in Food Labeling

Letter to the Editor - Concerns about Mad Cow

Country-of-Origin-Labeling: Why the Bush Administration Is Too COOL To Tell You Where Your Food Comes From

Don't Have a Cow - But Watch Where You Buy Your Beef

At Auction, Cattle Sales Still Brisk

Letter to the Editor on Genetically-Modified Wheat

Letter to the Editor on BSE

Corporate Chicanery vs. Consumer Rights in Food Labeling

What's a Rancher? Profit and Loss in Industrial Agriculture

Stuck in the MUDs: Why Texas Needs a Purchase of Development Rights Program for Farmland

Letter to the Editor - Tools to Fight MUDs