#1893 - Will Harris

Joe Rogan (0:04)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

So you are actually the second Will Harris that I've had on the show, I should just tell you. My friend Will Harris is a documentary filmmaker. He does MMA films, does films about UFC fighters, and he's been on recently. So people see the name Will Harris, so like, we have to make a distinction. There are more than one, and you're the different one. You're the farmer.

Will Harris (0:31)

Maybe next time I'll be your friend, too.

Joe Rogan (0:35)

Well, I first saw you on television doing one of those very quick interviews where there was, you know, they were talking about all these issues that you like to discuss, but they only gave you a couple of minutes. And it was really hard, because you have a relaxed way of talking, but you were very interesting. And I was watching, I was like, this is a stupid format.

Like, I want to hear what this guy has to say. Obviously, he has a lot more to say. So that's why we're having this conversation.

Will Harris (1:02)

Well, thank you for that.

That event you're talking about was Fox News. A guy named Stuart Varney invited me to be on, and he kicked my ass pretty good. And I accept culpability in it. I don't watch TV much, and I've never watched Fox News.

Joe Rogan (1:26)

Never.

Will Harris (1:28)

And I should have prepared myself, but I didn't. I took it in its word. I got an email from this Stuart Varney saying he wanted me to be on a segment, five minutes, explaining why I didn't think it was good for Bill Gates to own so much farmland. So I said, well, that's good. You know, I have definite opinions, thoughted opinions on that. I want to share them.

So I sat down and wrote up a four-minute explanation of facts of why I thought that's not good. And I thought I was gonna get to go through my stuff. And he asked the question, and I started explaining it. And I'm profoundly southern. You know, I speak slowly.

And I was doing what I thought he wanted me to do. He said, but why, why?

Joe Rogan (2:27)

Everything on those shows is just, you gotta get to the point, get to the point, get to the point. It fevers people.

Will Harris (2:33)

If we'd been at the cow pasture, I'd have pinched his fucking head off.

Joe Rogan (2:38)

Well, unfortunately, that's his job.

He's got producers in his ear. I guarantee you, they're telling him to move things along quicker.

Will Harris (2:45)

It's a shitty job.

Joe Rogan (2:47)

It's unfortunate. It's a terrible way to disseminate information. And could you just like, let's start it from the beginning, like who you are.

Tell us everybody about your farm and how everything's run because it's very interesting.

Will Harris (2:59)

So I'm Will Harris. I'm the fourth generation of my family to own and manage White Oak Pastures. I have two daughters and two in-laws who are there with me today, helping run the farm. And I have seven grandchildren, so the sixth generation is on the farm. There's been in my family since 1866

So my great-grandfather, James Edward Harris, came there in 1866 and established the farm and ran it all his life, followed by his son, Will Carter Harris, my granddad, followed by his son, Will Bell Harris, my dad, followed by me, and now, again, I've got two more generations in the offing.

You know, I think the thing I enjoy most, and to tell you about the farm, so the farm is, that farm is 3,200 acres. We do some other grazing, but that farm is 3,200 acres. We pasture raise five different poultry species, chickens, turkeys, geese, guineas, and ducks, and we hand butcher them on the farm in a USDA-inspected processing plant I built. We pasture raise five red meat species, cows, hogs, sheep, goats, rabbits, and hand butcher them in a separate USDA-inspected facility that I built. We raise pasture, eggs, organic vegetables, honey, and a bunch of other little ancillary businesses that go from the organism that is White Oak Pastures. It's very different from what I did prior to 25 years ago.

Joe Rogan (4:49)

What did you do prior to 25 years ago?

Will Harris (4:53)

So prior to the mid-90s, I ran it as my father had, as a very linear, monocultural cattle operation. The factory farm model.

Joe Rogan (5:09)

And what made you make a shift to the way you're doing it now? Would you call it the way you're doing it now, regenerative agriculture? That's how you would describe it?