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4T% Ranch, 2200 McNab Ranch Road, Ukiah, CA (2026)

08/31/2026

One thing I've been thinking about lately- besides how to feed cows again- is this page.

I keep making a mistake.

I'm used to being a small rancher in small town Alaska.

I'm used to the majority of my interactions being with people who know my story- if not me.

I could rely on support, understanding and kindness way more often than not.

I helped feed Alaskans and they propped me up when all was bleak.

So I write in that voice.

But, as my story has changed, so has my audience. A fair number of Alaskans are- understandably- no longer interested in my journey.

They have been partially 'replaced' by folks who feel it is their right to question my values and integrity.

I know that's the deal with social media: division and discord drives the algorithm.

Plus, people suck.

I enjoy this page, I enjoy much of the feedback. I've learned a lot from my readers.

I'm just not sure how to navigate even the partial swapping of my neighbors who wished me well for the shark tank.

I'm not sure I want to.

For now, I need to get ready to fly to Montana.

I bought cattle sight unseen in Alaska and I was shipped utter garbage. It cost me an insane amount of money. I won't make that mistake twice.

I hope to share with you where my cattle will come from and how I plan on sourcing some of the best Angus stock in the United States.

08/29/2026

I finally finished making pear silage today.

Crazy amount of work.

As I shoveled pear paste I remembered
Wickard v. Filburn from 1942.

Farmer Roscoe Filburn grew extra wheat strictly for consumption on his own farm to feed his livestock and family.

The United States Supreme Court ruled that by growing his own wheat, he didn't buy wheat on the open market.

The Court reasoned that if many farmers did the same, it would collectively affect interstate commerce, giving Congress the power to regulate it.

This is still good law in the economic sphere.

Congress has authority over interstate commerce.

See where I'm going?

Congress could pass a law superseding ALL State laws regarding the raising, transportation, slaughter and processing of beef cattle.

Relying on the Interstate Commerce Clause and the Supremacy Clause, Congress could pass a modified PRIME Act.

To appease the (legitimate) concerns over State rights, Congress could include a sunset clause.

Let's put this plainly: I think Congress could override ALL State laws and make a law allowing ranchers to process, and sell, beef with USDA or State inspection.

Filburn seems to be good authority.

And, unlike an Executive Order than can instantly be undone by the next President, a statutory scheme would encourage investment and capital.

Damnit I'm glad to be done pears.

I don't think about the law anymore and a mindless task of tamping barrels brought it bubbling up.

08/29/2026

Quite a few folks have pointed this out to me.

I didn't post right away about it because I wanted to think on it.

I think it's meaningless.

The only Congressman worth a damn, Thomas Massie, has been pushing his PRIME Act since 2020.

It's been ignored- because Congress doesn't really give a rats ass about any of us.

Now Trump comes in and thinks that an Executive Order is going to fix this?

If I conclude that 'our own food', he means we can bypass the USDA for in State sales there are still two major problems:

First, the State will likely be up our ass. Do you think California, for example, will say 'Gee Ben, go for it'? Even if they did, I'd need such major insurance I'm not sure there would be any benefit.

Second, you still need the facility and the staff to run smaller plants. Trust me when I say not everyone wants to knock cattle on the head and pull their guts out.

Go to a meat plant and see who is doing the work. Immigrants. Prisoners.

Even with this alleged new found right to process beef, we would still need the physical plants. The tools. The markets and the margins. Who is going to invest millions in a meat plant without the volume to keep it running?

Plus, the rest of the regulatory apparatus will crush innovation.

So color me skeptical. My brief time with the slaughter plant in Alaska taught me......

Meat plants won't spring up.

This strikes me as a blowhard spouting off.

Sad. There ARE solutions. This is nothing.

08/28/2026

I'm buying barley for the first time since last winter.

My poor truck driver, Simon. 50 below in Delta Junction.

I had to buy whole barley because the machines were too frozen to give me anything else. I don't like feeding whole barley because 50% of it or so it gets wasted.

So it's a real treat just to come down to the feed plant and get what I need when I want it.

Barley makes a snow white fat and is my preferred grain for sure. I'm sure glad I learned about it in Alaska.

08/27/2026

I never needed a website in Alaska but I suppose I will now.

Here's what I wrote for my first crack at one.

What do you think?

'Americans love beef.

But, for too long, we've been conditioned to think a novelty cube of foreign fat is the pinnacle of luxury.

4T% Ranch is here to change how Americans think about beef.

Sourced from the Big Sky country of Montana, our cattle undergo an elite, 180-day artisanal finish in California.

We completely eliminate all industrial pharmaceuticals and feed
a pristine matrix of premium alfalfa, sweet potatoes, orchard fruits, vineyard grapes, California almonds, and cold-pressed olives.

By infusing this rich terroir with gourmet King Oyster mushrooms and a botanical pack of garlic, cinnamon, thyme, oregano, and rosemary, we deliver an extraordinarily high-quality, clean and luxurious beef.

But, because of our uncompromising standards, our seasonal harvests remain strictly limited to a small number of
private allocations each year.

We don't just grow cattle—we forge a nutritionally dense, data-backed culinary masterpiece that stands entirely alone as the finest beef on Earth.'

PS The picture is the 'cube' reference and not my beef. This isn't my website and I'm not using this picture.

08/27/2026

Tonight, as the sundown finally gives some respite from the heat, I am 'boxing' up the first of the grape pomace.

What a s**t ton of work that was/is.

We had to spread it out to dry it.

Flipping it over and over again.

Then we had to put it into 5 gallon buckets and run it up in the four wheeler to the hammer mill. Then bring it back to the tarp and spread it back out.

The worst part was the rice hulls.

The winery added them to help the grapes juice better. They are microscopically sharp little bastards that made the grinding process unbelievably itchy.

To say I was annoyed by them was an understatement.

But it turns out that they're actually incredibly helpful. Made mostly of silica they will act as additional 'scratch' in the rumen.

This is important to a man feeding pears and olives.

Although it looks like there's a lot of them there there's only about 200 pounds for a couple tons of dried grapes.

Back at it under a full moon on a gorgeous California evening.

08/27/2026

As I crawl towards cows again (cows!!!!) I am excited about three feed developments. I'll keep this simple but it's thrilling stuff to me.

First, I got a carton of cinnamon yesterday.

My herd will get it every day.

95% of cattle fed commercially get Rumensin- an ionophore antibiotic.

It costs about 2 cents a day per head while cinnamon will cost me 15 cents a day.

But.

Both target and destroy the exact same gram-positive rumen bacteria. They are EQUALLY effective.

Not close. Not almost. Equal.

But replacing Rumensin with cinnamon can increase liver abscess risks by over 80% unless - wait for it- paired with grape tannins!!

I happen to be drying tons of grapes.

So by feeding cinnamon and grapes, I can replace using antibiotics with my cattle.

Second, I am ordering King oyster mushroom powder.

I figured out exactly how much to feed to significantly increase the L-Ergothioneine (Ergo) in my beef.

Labelled the "Longevity Vitamin", humans must get it entirely through diet.

There are massive cardiovascular and neuroprotective benefits and fuel for mitochondria and heavy metal chelation properties found in Ergo.

And my beef will be rich in it.

Finally, we are hustling to preserve pears. What a chore. Sorting. Weighing. Crushing. Mixing. Bagging and tamping.

Making even 2 barrels is exhausting. Fun. But exhausting. Many to go.

But, unlike corn that ferments violently requiring synthetic drugs to stabilize the animal's rumen (see above), pears are rich in polyphenols and antioxidants.

So, in the heat, we weigh and we crush and we sort.

Cows come first.

I can't wait. To hear them. Smell them. Feed them. All I am is theirs.

08/26/2026

You may have seen the viral claim that 77 ranchers a day are going out of business.

We are in trouble for sure.

But the real number- if this brings you any comfort- is closer to 55 a day.

Between 2017 and 2022- a major Ag census is not done yearly- around 100,000 cattle operations folded.

I can tell you- as I hustled trying to
learn how to turn tons of pears into silage in the summer heat - I understood why.

My kids sure as hell won't be doing this. I can only hope to have grandchildren who want my farm.

Sure, I'll work another year or twenty.

But then what?

55 isn't great. It's awful in fact. But let's be honest with our losses. That 77 number is ALL agricultural operations that vanished per day- including crop, dairy, and poultry farms—not just cattle ranches.

In better news Claire and I are headed to Montana next week to eyeball our new herd before it is trucked to us.

I told the rancher this morning to get my heifers ready to ship.

I will be gone one day but I still have a few head to run first. A few grapes to grind.

It's past time for me to feed cows again.

After all I've gone crazy, can't you tell?

I threw stones at the stars but the whole sky fell- Gregory Alan Isakov.

08/24/2026

Just a friendly reminder.

On March 19, 2026, China- CHINA!!!!- rejected a load of beef from Argentina because it had traces of chloramphenicol.

This antibiotic has been banned for use in food-producing animals in the US for years.

Why?

Well it's bad news.

If you're sensitive to it even a microscopic trace of chloramphenicol triggers an irreversible, total shutdown of the bone marrow. The body completely stops making red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. This leads to catastrophic internal bleeding, severe uncontrollable infections, and is frequently fatal.

Even if you're not that sensitive- and who knows if you are- it's still very, very bad news.

Where is the Trump beef coming from?

I know what's in my beef and you do too.

08/24/2026

I was cranky today.

The heat blasts my ability to regulate my frustration.

Supply chain issues plague me. I assumed leaving Alaska I'd be able to get what I want when I need it.

That's not true. I'm perpetually waiting on supplies. I guess Covid really killed some parts of America for good.

Everything is expensive.

I bounce from crisis to crisis.

One of the guys helping me yesterday said 'this is too much work for treinta y uno vaca" as I flew between stresses.

No s**t.

So.

Let me take a deep breath as the sun has gone down over the hill and I can catch my breath. It's ok to be cranky but it's our wits that make us men.

So. Wits.

I have a few strands of electric wire to run and I can finally- excuse the language- fu***ng finally- run cattle.

I will try to source local cattle this week while I wait for the weather to cool enough to truck from Montana.

And today I had a big moment. I have been working on a feed ration with 23 ingredients. Olives and pears and sweet potatoes and alfalfa and barley and grapes and almonds and and and.

Hours and hours. Claire goes to bed. I work on it until 1 AM. Notes are scattered everywhere I sit. My thoughts are consumed by it.

But over and over it failed the tests of metabolic and digestive health for my cattle.

Until today.

Today AI told me that ' based on the metabolic and chemical profile of your 180-day feeding program, you will produce highly marbled, tender, niche-market beef with unique physical and flavor characteristics.'

And. "This ration passes".

I sat in my kitchen and cried. Real tears of relief and frustration and loss and joy.

Now it goes to an human expert in cattle nutrition.

I'm going to have a drink and look at the golden hills and be grateful.

4T% Ranch

08/31/2026

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