4T% Ranch

06/26/2026

I am simultaneously torn between three things in my last few days in Alaska;

1. Missing Claire and being genuinely excited for my future;

2. A profound sadness over leaving this ranch and Alaska; and

3. Worry over how to be successful.

But then I stop to look at the video of my new home.

And I remember how foolish it would be to trade love for ambition.

So 2 and 3 get washed away like a summer rain.

A natural sanctuary defined by sweeping Oak savannah juxtaposed aga...

06/26/2026

Manure.

Manure is the issue.

I think I'll be (mostly) left alone if I control my manure.

I need to think like a dairy.

Even though my cows will have access to land, I expect the grass to run out. I'll be considered an 'Animal Feeding Operation', rather than a grazer.

Well, yes. But that exposes me to a nightmare of rules if I'm clumsy.

So I've been thinking. How can I manage my manure?

First, I think I will feed seasonally. I'll take the summer 'off'.

There are a lot of reasons for this but dung beetles are a big part of it. The soil gets too damned hard for them to work in the summer.

So, here's my current plan.

I will build a concrete pad with a curb. Buy a sawdust spreader, like the dairies use. Sawdust seems to be very available in Mendocino County. Spread it on the pad.

I'll tow a set of feeder wagons onto the pad. Push the cows onto it. Let them eat AND chill there for a couple hours.

Let them out. Remove the feed wagons.

Repeat in the evening.

Clean the pad as needed. Once a day?

I expect this to capture 50% of my manure.

So I'll build a 4 bay composting facility. Use worms and turning to reduce flies and odor.

If I do this, encourage dung beetles, fence off streams and leave a significant vegetative riparian buffer, I have a shot.

Thoughts?

06/25/2026

Many years ago I was an attorney who represented medical cannabis collectives in Northern California.

I took a different approach than some: total transparency and a strict requirement of my clients to follow the rules.

So, when a collective was set up, I'd write a letter to the DA and law enforcement encouraging them to do a site visit.

Then I'd follow that with more letters.

In all the years I represented hundreds of growers, I never had a client lose a single gram of cannabis to the law.

So, I've decided to apply that same strategy to my new ranch in Ukiah.

It is impossible to run enough cows to make a living and ONLY graze them in a place it doesn't rain for 6 months in a row.

Not unless you have thousands of acres or irrigation. But dryland?

But, by feeding them, I could run into issues.

I'm going to put my fingerprints on every regulatory body. Every group concerned about animal welfare or water quality. The County.

Everyone from the brand inspector to the Planning Department to the Water Board will know who I am.

That way if (when?) there is an issue, I'll have a deep reservoir of folks who know exactly what I'm up to.

I'm not sure it's the right approach. But I think I'm in a good position to duck and dodge and weave my way through the rules.

Ironically my love of cattle and my respect for the land- my home- is not the issue. It is simply a hyper regulated environment and my best intentions aren't worth jack s**t to the bureaucrats who make a living out of making farming harder.

My first meeting is next Friday.

Total transparency. Every damned person there is will know my name.

Let's see if this works! My cow dogs are bored out of their gourd.....

06/24/2026

I am listening to a summer rain fall in Alaska.

The process of cleaning and packing is nearly over.

I have received word that my land in California has been stripped of the grapes.

It is dry and bare. Rain is months away.

Perhaps it is the steadily falling rain. Perhaps it is the somber melancholy of wandering through an empty home and farm.

The echoes of my small children and my long lost cattle are enough to drive me mad.

I have often cursed the wet summers of my Alaska home. Now, I wonder if the golden hills of my new home will reveal a hidden pluviophile.

After all, I have grass to grow. Cattle too. An amazing woman to love.

A life to build.

So, I wish I wasn't torn between the excitement of a new world and a sense of loss so deep it feels almost too much to bear.

Alaska has been my home.

I am unable to stay.

But I am unwilling to leave.

06/23/2026

This page, without question, has been one of the greatest tools of my life.

From support in dark days, to the sale of beef to physical help when I felt desperate and alone.

And now it has brought me cattle again.

30 heifers in Montana that are out of feed because of drought. And a place to put them until I am ready.

I like buying heifers. I think they make better beef. It seems to me that they deposit fat differently.

And, in the event that a few of them are excellent animals, I can start my own cow calf operation in California.

The worry of moving is easing. It is being replaced with excitement. 

Cattle. Claire. The sun.

06/22/2026

Just once in my life, I would've liked to have run cows without having to involve bulldozers! 

I'm joking. That would've been boring.

The vines are reported to be down and almost piled.

06/22/2026

So I have a bunch of stuff I'm just not taking.

It's tools. Building supplies. Outdoor gear. Clothing. Scattered bits of furniture. That sort of thing.

There's not a lot of value in most of it.

A few items, like the 20x24 canvas tent, and my 'tools' - both Alaska and otherwise- are worth something.

As for my Alaska tools, I have ten. They are worth less than I told some folks so feel free to reach out to me about those.

The rest is too good to just dump but I leave a week from today.

Should I try a garage sale next weekend? Give it all to charity- if there is one who would just come take it all?

Dump everything but the things with real value?

I just want it out of my way.

I'm open to ideas.

06/22/2026

My personal hero is Marvin Heemeyer.

In 2004, having had enough of government bulls**t, he armored a bulldozer and destroyed (mainly) government buildings.

His quote that 'sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things' is a personal favorite.

So meet Cheese.

Our new cow pony.

I now have two blondes to love.

Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things!

06/21/2026

The King may rule o‘er land and sea, The lord may live right royally, The soldier ride in pomp and pride, The sailor roam o‘er ocean wide;

But this or that, whate‘er befall,

The farmer he must feed them all.

The writer thinks, the poet sings, The craftsmen fashion wondrous things, The doctor heals, the lawyer pleads, The miner follows the precious leads; But this or that, whate‘er befall,

The farmer he must feed them all.

The merchant he may buy and sell, The teacher do his duty well, But men may toil through busy days, Or men may stroll through pleasant ways; From king to beggar, whate’er befall,

The farmer he must feed them all.

The farmer’s trade is one of worth; He’s partner with the sky and earth, He’s partner with the sun and rain, And no man loses for his gain;

And men may rise, or men may fall,

But the farmer he must feed them all.

God bless the man who sows the wheat, Who finds us milk and fruit and meat; May his purse be heavy, his heart be light.

His cattle and corn and all go right; God bless the seeds his hands let fall.

For the Farmer he must feed us all.

- Amelia E. Burr

This is why I farm. This is why I'll keep farming.

The Farmer must feed us all.

Happy Solstice Alaska!

06/21/2026

I am cleaning up my office and I found this on my old work computer.

I forgot I made it. Just for fun.

What a ride the last 8 years have been.

And I got my answer. From a dream, and a raw piece of land, to this place.

I did what I set out to do- and much, much more.

Seeing this is just what I needed to set my mind right.

I'm ready to go now.