Three sets of first-generation farmers share their paths to getting rooted

While Silicon Hills is booming, another career path has gained traction: A number of young professionals in Central Texas have left their corporate careers, seeking work with more integrity and purpose. And now they’ve found their calling as farmers and land stewards, using multiple skill sets to produce responsibly grown food products and to help educate the community on why it matters.

Catherine and Tanner Klemcke entered the corporate world after college; Tanner worked in the oil industry, and Catherine worked in pharmaceutical sales. It was when they watched Food, Inc. – a documentary revealing the truth about factory farming in the U.S. – that their lives, and eventually their careers, changed drastically. Tanner said, “We started educating ourselves on how meat is raised in America. We were shocked. We started researching all the regulations and realized it was all true.”