CODY, Wyo.—AJ Richards comes from a fifth-generation ranching family but had always considered himself the “city-slicker cousin.” He figured he’d eventually make his way back to the land.
After serving in the military and pursuing a series of unrelated ventures, he began working for his family’s beef ranch and started seeing a disconnect between Americans and the food they consume.
COVID-19 had outlined the problem well enough, he said. “We had empty store shelves, but we had all these fat cows. We’d become so separated from our food supply.”
He ruminated on supply chain weaknesses exposed by the pandemic, and began to think of famine as a “when” not “if” scenario. Then, he had a vision….