Mat Moten

Colonel (Ret.) Matthew Moten grew up near his grandparents’ ranch in Burnet County, Texas. But working cattle in the hot sun for low profits held little romance for him. He went to West Point and spent the next thirty-six years in the uniform of the United States Army. He lived and served on three continents and traveled to three more. He first saw the Alps from the turret of his tank. He served at the highest levels of the Pentagon and was there on 9/11. A few years later he saw combat in Iraq.

Along the way he received a doctorate in history from Rice University specializing in American political-military relations. In addition to numerous articles, he wrote two books, Presidents and Their Generals and The Delafield Commission and the American Military Profession and edited a third, Between War and Peace: How America Ends Its Wars. He spent the last several years of his military career teaching at the United States Military Academy, culminating as professor and head of the Department of History. 

In 2014 the family ranch lured him back home. But he found that the traditional ranchers who had been leasing it in his absence had left it overstocked and overgrazed. Taking over the operation, he searched for answers. After several false starts and some major mistakes (adding two hundred head of goats did not help), he and his wife of four decades, Margaret, attended a weekend seminar sponsored by HMI. That led to more training, the epiphany of planned grazing, and the broader understanding of Holistic Management. The drought of 2021 forced them to sell all of the goats and 75% of their cattle, many of whom were the great-granddaughters of his own grandparents’ herd of Charolais. The folks at HMI mentored them through those painful decisions.

The cattle operation is smaller now, but more profitable. The ranch is no longer a burden, but a pleasure. Mat has time to teach and write historical fiction. Margaret has served as chairman of the board of two non-profits, Goodwill Central Texas and the Austin Community College Foundation. And they both enjoy spending time with their two children and two grandsons.

When asked to join the HMI Board of Directors, Mat looked at it as an opportunity to advance two of his passions, education and agriculture. He hopes to help HMI grow, evolve, and thrive so that the next generation of farmers and ranchers can, through the principles of Holistic Management, find agriculture a fulfilling, productive, and profitable way of life.