FWCD Parent Abby Nowles: Chef and Rancher
On Tuesday, May 14, seventh grade Science Teacher Christine Spikes invited FWCD parent Abby Nowles to speak to the grade level about how her job relates to what they have learned throughout the year. Abby, parent to Dyer ’29, is a chef and a rancher. Her passion lies in seeing things from start to finish, from animal to table, ensuring the highest quality at every stage. During her presentation, she explained how she used to work for a chef who brought in local farmers and ranchers and used their products rather than packaged items. After working with them for a while, Nowles worked even closer with ranchers and farmers to see the whole process through.
Fast forward to a few years ago when her family repurchased family land in Channing, Texas, known as the XIT Ranch. The ranch dates back to 1885, but it hadn’t been farmed for quite a while. After she and her family gained ownership, they bought some cows and started figuring things out. Talking about the cows, she explained the difference between continuous grazing and managed grazing, which is how their livestock are now fed after doing research over the last 10 years. Managed grazing has benefits like more wildlife, microbial diversity, an increase in rainfall absorption and overall healthier cattle. She also explained regenerative practices and how the cycle of a cow is good for the land if done correctly. The last point was about stewardship and how they will leave the land better for the next generations, have a conservation focus, practice sustainability and pass the land on to other family members.
To this day, Nowles loves to cook and use every part of the animal. You can find some of her recipes on their ranch website, xitranch.com. Showing how much she loves to cook, she brought in homemade granola and yogurt (made from her neighbor’s cows’ milk) and different moisturizing balms made of beef tallow for the students to try.
“Abby has an interesting job as a chef working with farms and ranches doing educational work with them related to healthy foods and sustainable practices,” said Spikes. “This fits very well with our curriculum in seventh grade science, and I wanted the students to hear about what she does and the impact that proper land management has on ecology.”
