KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Meet the American ranch manager, Dick Powers, the man who has stripped down what it means to “being one with nature”.
Known best by his Instagram moniker, the “Naked Rancher” has been sharing photos of him in his birthday suit while working on his family’s 728 hectare land in the north-western American state of Montana,.
Powers told Daily Mail he first sensed his connection with nature as a kid growing up in Florida’s Everglades where he had joined the American Indian Scouts.
“I played a lot of sports growing up and was part of the American Indian Scouts — which is similar to regular Scouts, but a lot more primitive.”
“You learn how to survive off the land in a more traditional manner, like the Native Americans do.”
“It was there that I started to build a connection with nature,” Power said.
As he grew older, he would help his father out at the ranch during the weekends while he was studying renewable energy development at the University of Montana.
After graduating in 2017, Powers decided to work full time at his family’s ranch and officially became the ranch manager in 2018.
“Instead of using my post grad degree, I became quite the handyman and that eventually led to me taking over from my dad at the ranch.”
“We have 200 cattle that need seeing to all year round, we have a huge hay operation and logging season requires a hell of a lot of manpower.”
According to Powers, it was during his time working at his family’s ranch where he unleashed his inner naturist.
“In the summer heat, working the land can get incredibly hot.”
“One day I was in the field, working on a ditch for the irrigation system and thought, ‘Screw it — I’m going to get naked’.”
So he stripped down to his underwear and worked the field.
“After a few days, I thought, ‘Damn, I have got to get rid of these tan lines’ — so I got butt naked. It might sound funny, but it’s the honest truth,” he said.
Now Powers does everything from mowing the grass to digging ditches and feeding the cattle completely naked.
Power’s unusual approach to ranching has caught the attention of his friends and in May last year, one of his friends suggested that he should share this side of him to the world and that’s exactly what he did.
“My friend felt it was a good idea and I thought, ‘Why not?’.
“It turns out she has a lot of gay buddies and they all went wild for it. They all liked the photo and shared it and before I knew it I had hundreds of followers.
“I’m straight, but I find it very sweet and very flattering.”
“There are occasions where people, mainly men, will message or comment asking me out on a date and I’m not intimidated by that thought, as I have a lot of gay friends,” he said.
Powers said that even though he lives in a conservative area, it is important to him to stay true to himself no matter how the environment dictates him to be.
“I’ve never liked being a stereotype.”
“I like being the oddball and I like being naked — it frees my spirits.”
The former oil-rig geologist hopes to expand his ranch experience to a naturist retreat.
“It’s an incredible part of the world and all these beautiful places are literally in my backyard.
“I’d love to show people the best things the area has to offer, with guided tours to hot springs, wooded trails and that sort of thing.
“At first I would probably do it in clothes, but who knows, down the line I can see this place making a beautiful naturist retreat,” he said.
