Meet Francis Graves - Bartlett
She and her husband Kris have three daughters, who represent the sixth generation on their family farm near Bartlett, KS. They began farming eight years ago with Kris’s family. Today, Frances and Kris live in their great grandparents’ house, the original farmstead at the ranch’s headquarters.
The Graves do their best to raise cattle responsibly, taking great care of their land through no-till farming techniques, water management and grass rotation, and caring for their animals daily with low-stress handling.
Frances grew up in the city and spent her 20s consuming a vegetarian diet. After her time as a young urban student and professional, she moved to the farm, where she enjoys raising children and cattle with her farming family in the rural lifestyle.
When she’s not busy on the farm or with her family, she enjoys baking, cooking, writing and blogging, running, hiking and other fitness activities, travel, and arts and crafts. She is involved in her community as a volunteer art club instructor at Bartlett Grade School and is a community organizer of the annual Bartlett Harvest Music Festival.
Frances joined the CommonGround™ Kansas team in fall 2016. She understands firsthand how emotion and fear dominate the conversation about where food comes from and hopes her unique background can help bridge the growing divide between the folks who raise and grow food and urban populations who might not have a farm connection.
Expertise: Animal Ag/Nutrition/Welfare, Animal Ag/Antibiotics, Hormones (in meat and milk), Food Safety, Family Farms vs. Corporate Farms
Ag Connections: American Farm Bureau Federation, Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership Program (KARL)