The click of dusty boot heels echoes down the hall as a group of West Texas ranchers come to a stop at the door of the dean of the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The sound of a knock at the door fills the empty space. They came together for a common issue they had been contemplating for years, and they had finally decided to act upon it together.
In 2022, the number of ranches across the U.S. decreased by 6.1%, and the average age of ranchers was around 58.1 years old, according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture. To compound the issue, the average age of beginning ranchers was 47.1 years old.
To leaders in the Davis College, Texas Tech University was uniquely positioned to take on this issue. Located in the heart of ranch country, Texas Tech’s hands-on research opportunities related to agriculture, with programs such as the beef cattle supply chain, proved the college’s excellence and students were prepared for the establishment of a new program.
Thus, the Texas Tech University Ranch Management Program was created to help train and prepare the next generation of ranchers. In April 2024, Clint Rusk, Ph.D., was named the program’s executive director. Rusk said the program aims to help address the widening age gap in ranching.
“Who is going to take their place?” Rusk said. “I still want to be able to eat a good steak, so we need good ranchers.”
Pioneering an Innovative Program
The Ranch Management Program is a master’s degree program that allows students to spend a year in the classroom and a year on two ranches in order to get hands-on experience. Their year on the two ranches is divided into six month increments to allow as much experience as possible.
After serving as an animal science department head at Oklahoma State University, Rusk was ready for a change in scenery and a new opportunity offered to him by Davis College dean and long-time colleague, Clint Krehbiel, Ph.D.
“When they offered me the job, I was surprised by the opportunity and a chance to come to Lubbock,” Rusk said.
As executive director, Rusk works with Davis College faculty and staff and the Ranch Management Advisory Committee, which consists of 15 ranchers, to layout the foundation for their new program. After further discussion, it was decided that the students would spend two semesters in the classroom.
“They backed it up with saying it wouldn’t matter if they took 50 more credits, until they learn to make ranch management decisions, they’re not going to be more valuable or comfortable out on the ranch,” Rusk said.
Students complete 30 total credit hours in the classroom before heading off to their ranch internships. Rusk said the ranch internships provide valuable hands-on experience with seasoned ranchers.
“We decided that two ranches would give them a comparison and give them experience with at least two managers,” Rusk said.
Students getting real-world, boots-on-the-ground opportunities during their internships was a priority for Rusk. He also wants students to experience the decision-making process that goes into ranching.
“I want ranches to include these students at least once a week, whether it’s a meeting at a kitchen table, in the office, or in a pickup on the way to a cattleman’s meeting,” Rusk said. “I want someone to invest in them and talk about the decisions that they’re thinking about on the ranch.”
Once the unique structure of the program was established, it was time to figure out what classes would be a part of the curriculum.
Cattleman Curriculum
Rusk said developing curriculum for the program has been a group effort.
“A group of professors across the Davis College departments sat down with me, and we sorted out five classes that we all wanted them to take,” Rusk said. “We call these the core classes.”
Ranch Management Program students are required to take five core courses focused on agricultural finance, agricultural business management and natural resource management. Students also take a seminar course where Rusk brings in industry leaders to meet with students. Students also are able to pick from a list of electives to fulfill their semester requirements. This list includes classes in agriculture and applied economics, animal science, natural resource management, as well as plant and soil sciences. In total, students earn 30 credit hours in the classroom and six on the ranch, meaning the entire program is 36 credit hours.
“At the end of last semester, I asked the students about their classes and asked if there were some we needed to take off the list, and all of them said no,” Rusk said. “They said these were really good classes and they’ve been enjoying them, so we’ve been blessed with a good set of classes.”
Recruitment and Application Processes
Rusk said he is recruiting students for the program at career fairs across Texas and throughout ranch country in neighboring states. While he was originally interested in only recruiting college seniors, he found that planting the seeds early with college freshman is a way to grow roots across the country. Once interested in the program, students are then able to apply through an online application that consists of a personal statement, resume, three letters of recommendation, and an official transcript. These applications are then evaluated and sent to a faculty advisory committee before interviews are conducted. After their interviews, eager students awaiting their decision will be called directly by Rusk himself.
Program Cohorts
Once the program was up and going, it needed a strong first class of eager students to take on the challenges of a changing industry.
The first cohort, which began with the fall 2024 semester, consists of four students. Rusk said the inaugural group has formed a close, tight-knit family connection.
“They have been studying together, and I have seen them on campus walking to class together,” Rusk said. “It’s really going to be a lot of family type connection through this program, and I hope that continues.”
This family-feel connection has even evolved for the second cohort of six students that started in January 2025.
“I had a student who was worried about driving in the snow, so she called another student in the cohort and asked if she could come and drive her,” he said. “So, they have all really become friends.”
Originally, Rusk was not sure if they would have a new cohort every semester or start a new group every fall. However, after a successful day of recruiting around 20 seniors that graduated in December at West Texas A&M University, Rusk saw the opportunity to grow the program in a new way.
“I still want to be able to eat a good steak, so we need good ranchers.”
Clint Rusk Ph.D.
The Future of Ranching
The first and second cohort of students is not only paving the way for this new program, but they also each bring their own unique experiences into the group. Briley Beck, Joe Sheppard, IV, and Cassidy Allen are members of the new program, and each student brings a different perspective and background to the group.
A zealous Red Raider at heart, Briley Beck from Lamesa, Texas, was the first student enrolled in the Ranch Management Program. A 2023 animal science graduate from Texas Tech, Beck knew he wanted to go into the ranching industry. After attending a Dean’s Scholar reception at the end of his senior year, Beck was introduced to Texas Tech’s Ranch Management Program for the first time.
“I went and talked to Dr. Krehbiel and Dr. Cox and they both told me about the program,” Beck said. “And for the next few months, every time I would go to a convention and Dr. Krehbiel would be there, I would ask him about it.”
Beck submitted his application for the program’s first class as soon as the program was established. He got word of his acceptance while working on a ranch 20 minutes outside of Lamesa. Despite his ranching experience and background, Beck knew he still had room to grow.
“The biggest thing was that I knew I still had plenty to learn,” Beck said. “Especially with management. Nobody is ever really ready for a management position, so I knew that I still had a lot to learn.”
Beck said he values the program’s multidisciplinary approach which allows him to engage with departments across the college.
“What opened up to me was the ability to go and take these natural resource classes where I can also be a better steward for the land,” Beck said. “If this program did not exist, I do not know if I would have gotten the same opportunities or been able to learn the information as quickly as I have.”
Beck had completed six months of working at the RA Brown Ranch in Throckmorton before he came back to Texas Tech to start his coursework. Back on campus, Beck said he has enjoyed the connections he has made within the program.
“We have a good group in our seminar class, and everyone in our cohort is taking that class,” Beck said. “It’s the way we sit around and joke with each other before and after those meetings, it’s always fun.”
While Beck had a more traditional path into the Ranch Management Program, classmate Joe Sheppard, has taken a more unlikely route into the discipline.
Before joining the program in 2024, Sheppard was playing professional hockey across the country. The seventh-generation Texas cattle raiser had a degree in business and political science and a minor in Spanish from Bethel University in Minnesota, but he was interested in getting back into the ranching industry when he discovered Texas Tech’s Ranch Management Program during an online search.
When he came across the Texas Tech Ranch Management Program online, Sheppard was immediately drawn to the program’s flexibility.
“You could really mold it to your background,” Sheppard said. “A lot of my experience comes from being on our family’s place, not so much from the animal science department at school, so I get to take more of those classes.”
Sheppard said the program’s seminar class has helped him meet experts in the field who could one day serve as a resource.
“Our program has a seminar where we have a guest speaker every week,” Sheppard said. “So, getting to meet people that are experts in the field that I can rely on, potentially down the line as a resource, I think that has been good.”
After graduating from the ranch management program, Sheppard plans on following the family tradition of going to law school before going home to the ranch.
Cassidy Allen is a member of the Ranch Management Program’s second cohort. Similar to Beck, the Davis, Oklahoma, native learned about the program through a college event.
A hard-working and determined first generation college student, Cassidy Allen from Davis, Oklahoma, originally started her higher education journey at a junior college in Oklahoma where she also worked for a horse trainer that had a cattle operation. After graduating with her associates degree in 2022, Allen attended Oklahoma State University and was a member of their newly established ranch horse team. Since she was graduating in December of 2024, Allen tried to be on the lookout for her next step when she ran into Rusk at a career fair.
“After talking to Dr. Rusk, I thought it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up,” Allen said. “It was actually the only graduate school that I applied to, so I thought that if it was meant to be, then I will definitely be there.”
Allen said the advanced beef production course has been one of her favorite classes in the program so far.
“The lab has been pretty interesting because it has been so hands-on,” Allen said. “There was one day where we all got to brand and tattoo the cattle.”
Allen said the program can be beneficial to everyone regardless of whether they have previous experience in the ranching industry. Because of the hands-on opportunities, students are obtaining the experience needed to work on a ranch.
“One of my biggest goals in my life was to one day go to college in general, because nobody in my family had ever gone to college,” Allen said. “I kind of exceeded my first goal in life, and I exceeded it in more ways than I ever could have imagined. I never imagined myself being in graduate school, let alone at Texas Tech in Lubbock.”
Fostering a Successful Future
As the Ranch Managment Program continues to grow, Rusk also hopes to see the number of graduates of the program grow as well.
“When the program started in the fall of 2024 there were five students and there were 10 students in the program in spring 2025.” Rusk said. “8 additional students have been accepted to start in fall 2025. I expect the program to continue to grow to the point where it graduates 20 students per year.”
As the future of the program strives for honor, it continues to be more than just a program to Rusk because of his students.
“The Texas Tech master’s in Ranch Management Program is special to me because of the passion and dedication I have seen in the first ten students who have joined the program,” Rusk said. “Even though they come from a variety of backgrounds and have various levels of ranching experience, they are very serious about learning as much as they can to prepare for a ranch management position when they graduate.”
Photos by Kaegen James