There is a lot of talk out there right now about the price of beef. President Trump has dumped a huge amount of imported ground beef into the market in order to “bring down the price for Americans.” This is the kind of near sighted policy that in the end can end up hurting regular folks and especially ranchers. The complexities of the meat packing industry are such that this might not even do what it is intended to do. Consolidation and corporatization of beef processing is a huge concern right now. Local slaughterhouses are closing in record numbers. We have felt this here in Humboldt Country directly. The large scale operations are even worse. There are now four corporations that control 85 percent of the beef market in the US. For comparison the amount of concentration in 1977 was 25 percent.

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Now I am not a beef market analyst so I’m not going to stick my neck out to say how this latest policy change is going to help or hinder the market. It is a complex system and the beef cycle is a long term factor. For those who are not familiar, the “beef cycle” refers to the rate at which ranchers can respond to the market forces of supply and demand. It is usually around twelve years. The reality is that it takes a while for a cow to have a calf and then raise that calf to either become a replacement heifer or a steer for slaughter. I have addressed this before. Cattle are not cash flow but rather wealth development. This is why we have both vegetable production, cash flow, and cattle, wealth generation, on our farm. I do know that meat is a high value product and honestly it probably should be expensive.

Right now the price of beef is at record highs, this might seem like it is good for the ranchers but it is also important to remember that price is relative. Have you seen the price of diesel lately? Ranchers make a very slim margin on their products. So yes the price is high but so are many other things. If you look at the trend of the overall cattle herd in the US then the ranchers should be increasing their stock, but we aren’t. The total US herd is the smallest it has been since 1951. It will take a while to rebuild and other factors like drought are affecting the overall size. High prices are what help incentivize the ranchers to rebuild the herd. Without that we will end up with fewer cows overall.

Our situation is relatively simple compared to larger ranchers who sell into the commodity market. That is one of the reasons that we sell directly because we can shorten the supply chain and control more of the factors that affect the price. But we have to factor in the cost of producing the product. Since our local slaughterhouse closed we now have to drive our cattle 200 miles away for processing. This is a significant increase and that is a cost that influences the price of our beef. We have also had significant cost increases in electricity for irrigation, supplemental hay, and cold storage. All of these add up and we are doing what we can to mitigate the costs for the consumer but the reality is that we have to make money in order to keep the business going.

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Meat is an important part of our diet. I think it should be the main focus for a healthy and active person. But it is also important to remember that an animal died so that you can eat meat. Meat should be expensive. I hope that most people can arrange their expenses to afford our beef. It is important and it can fulfill more than just the hamburger bun. Good grazing builds soil, increases biodiversity and water infiltration. These are things we should be paying for just in themselves. I want people to be able to feed their families but I also want to feed mine including all of the critters here on the farm that rely upon us. Meat is expensive for a reason. It means something and is an important part of a larger system.

I don’t think dumping a load of questionable imported beef onto the market is a good idea. It pisses off every rancher I know. Nobody is happy with the decision and ultimately it is only going to help the big corporations. I am doubtful that it will have any impact on the price of beef for your average American. It only chips away at the structure that could bring sustainable and regenerative protein to our people. The best thing we can do is support the farmers and ranchers directly. Find one and buy their food.

Farmers markets are great. I’ve been working ours in Humboldt county for 25 years. It is a big part of how we make our farm financially viable. The Arcata farmers market has been running continuously for 48 years and is one of the longest running certified markets in California. Humboldt County is a small place and extremely rural. Our population is only 131,000 spread over a geographic area the size of Vermont. And yet we have a Saturday market that rivals many urban areas in vibrancy and attendance. This place is unique in many ways and our ability to sustain our farm with income from the farmers market is amazing.

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Markets are fast paced. We have a short window to sell everything we have harvested and then pack up to head home. I am grateful for everybody who comes out to support the farmers each Saturday as we unload our produce and spend the day selling as fast as we can. But I am not appreciative of people who bring dogs to market. The North Coast Growers Association (NCGA) who runs our market has rules against dogs at market. The reality is that it is a public health and safety issue.

I don’t care that you think your dog is really nice. The fact of the matter is that all dogs are a liability. The risk of dog bite is real. The other week we had a vendor at our market get bitten by a dog. This is a very real problem because dogs can get frightened by the chaotic atmosphere and lash out. Every Saturday the NCGA staff put on an event that rivals a festival in nature and attendance. That is an amazing feat. No matter how well trained your dog might be, they are unpredictable. At the Arcata market there are thousands of people coming and going. Families, our elders, people with limited mobility, they are all walking around the plaza and they are our customers. By bringing your dog you put them at risk.

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There are also some very real public health concerns. I hate to say it but I have personally witnessed dogs peeing on boxes of produce. I’m sorry but that is just gross. The person with the dog is distracted talking with friends and the dog predictably lifts its leg on a box that was destined to be sold at the stall. We have also had dog poop tracked into our stall from the grass because someone did not clean up after their dog. Nobody wants that. It’s gross and yes it can transmit disease. So for crying out loud, leave your dog at home!

Humans have at least a 30,000 year history with canines. I know our connection runs deep. That is why many people feel like they are entitled to own a dog. Dogs hold a special place in our culture and society. I own four of them. No one wants me to bring my massive livestock guardian dogs anywhere. They serve a purpose and have very real jobs on the farm. I don’t fault anyone for having a dog, even if just for companionship. But please be a responsible pet owner and don’t bring your dog to the farmers market.

In the myth of Sisyphus, the king of Ephyra, is condemned by Zeus to perpetually roll a boulder up a mountain just to have it roll back down and have to do it the next day. It is a commonly invoked image of drudgery and eternal work. Every day Sisyphus must shoulder this massive stone and roll it up the hill. Each night it rolls back down and the labor has to be repeated again.

It is all too easy to see the work on the farm in these same terms. You finish weeding a field only to have to start back at the beginning because the weeds have grown again. Each day there will be zucchini to harvest, but overnight they continue to grow and we will just have to harvest again tomorrow. Every morning you get up and milk the cow and by tomorrow morning you will have to milk her again.

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The garden itself can be seen as a beautiful piece of art that we erase at the end of the year and begin again next season. I am reminded of the monks who make elaborate mandalas with colored sand. They are amazing works of art but the real lesson is when the sand is swept away. It is impermanent. Farmers and gardeners are eternal optimists. We begin each spring with renewed vigor and grand plans. Each year by the end of harvest we might be a bit bedraggled but over the winter we forget and start the task again.

We are Sisyphus. Constantly beginning our task and never finding the end of the work. Because the work will always return to the beginning again. Albert Camus, the French philosopher, challenged us to imagine Sisyphus happy. Imagine him like the farmer who greets his cow every morning with a song and a smile. Imagine the gardener harvesting the abundance each day only to find more the next.

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The tasks we have are endless. There will always be another project and another list. Every day the sun rises and we get a new chance to shoulder our burden and push it back up the hill. It’s too easy to think about Sisyphus sweating and straining under the weight of the boulder. Most imagery showing him evokes that sense of work. Many images show him with heavily muscled back and shoulders. The kind of “Greek god” physique that most gym bros would covet. I can imagine the physical transformation would have evoked a sense of pride in him. You know that at the end of the day he was checking out his bicep vein in the mirror. The endless pushing and lifting made him jacked. The consistency of his work left him no other choice but to be the biggest dude around.

While it is difficult to find meaning in pushing a boulder up a hill, he never quit. The story doesn’t end with Sisyphus giving up. There is never a task master behind him forcing him to keep moving. He just knows that this is what needs to be done and he puts his incredibly chiseled shoulder behind it. All of the best things in life require effort. We enjoy the fruits of our labors. When I imagine Sisyphus as a farmer it is easier to picture him content and happy. Complacency doesn’t grow corn.

I love doing my farm work and I want to spend as little time as possible doing it. We train a lot of people here on the farm. Even the most experienced employees we hire will need to learn how we want things done here. Everybody just assumes that they might innately know how to farm, but to be perfectly honest most people have a lot to learn when it comes to the nuts and bolts of farming. Most of our time is spent teaching how to efficiently complete various tasks around the farm. We want to set them up for success so we will explain various ways to make things go faster. This might be a hint on how to count bunches or a method to keep a net fence from getting tangled. Our insights come from years of experience and the desire to make a task go more quickly.

Farming can eat up your time faster than you can believe. You could spend all day fixing one thing only to neglect a multitude of other problems. We all have a finite amount of time in a day and success in farming, and in life, is using that time in the best possible way for your desired outcome. Profit margins are slim in the farm business and wasted time can chew that up faster than a pig at the slop. So we devise ways to make it as efficient as possible and the fewer mistakes we make the better. There is a diminishing return on thinking about efficiency however.

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Sometimes you just have to move faster. I know this might come off as harsh but often the most efficient way to do a task is simply to do it faster. I am all for thinking through efficiencies and making adjustments to your Standard Operating Procedure. You can gain a lot of productivity that way, but that is really for when you have become proficient with a task. I recognise that it is important to make sure you are not just moving quickly and accomplishing very little. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is not productive either.

There are times when you get faster by moving with authority. Increasing your speed will simply help get the task done faster. Hopefully as someone becomes more comfortable with a task that confidence will translate in greater speed. Many times, however, a sense of complacency creeps in and folks will slow down because it is just easier that way. This is where a kick in the pants might be warranted.

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I want everybody to have the best possible experience because that way we can increase the number of farmers out there. I want to honor people’s feelings and experiences. But honestly sometimes I just want them to move faster. Many of the tasks that we have to do may not be that pleasant. Nobody loves hand weeding, or shoveling manure, well I guess I actually do love making compost, but these tasks are what eat up your time. When a job gets to be a slog the best remedy is to just get it done. Move faster and it will take less time. Then you can get back to doing the things you actually enjoy.

The summer season is hot and transformative like a crucible. We are heading into a summer heat wave this week and I know it’s going to wear on the already thin energy we all have to dedicate to the farm. Each year we enter into a transformative relationship with the microcosm of the farm. The farm is a testing ground for ourselves. Honestly a lot of people don’t make it. Every year that I have farmed there have been folks who can’t hack the tough part of the season. It gets tough and it tests your ability to stay cool, literally and figuratively. Many people will quit before they get through their first full season of farming.

We often talk about the barriers of entry into farming. Access to land, capital, and resources often play a part. But we never talk about what might really be keeping our farming population low. The fact that it is hard deters many people. Honestly I have come to realise that a large portion of the population just doesn’t have what it takes.

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On the farm we used to call it “August Angst.” Even after a wonderful spring season when the dog days of summer come knocking there is always a sudden shift from a positive mindset into one that catastrophises. It is too easy to start down a negative pathway. It’s hot and things are starting to break down. The work seems endless and at this point many people break. They lose it and most run away.

Now it is not everybody. The select few who make it through will see that it was a short period and if they just stick it out it gets better quite quickly. But in the heat of the moment something breaks in many people. I have not been able to predict who it will happen to. Someone who you thought was solid is all the sudden melting into a puddle of tears, and the person you might have had your doubts about has found a new found purpose.

I think back to my earliest farm seasons and I realise that is why I like it so much. It is hard and it gives me purpose. I was probably that farmhand who no one thought would make it but during the crucible of the summer I transformed into my true self. Farming is hard and I love that fact. This time of year tests us and I enjoy coming through the hard part with a deeper understanding of who I am.

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We have tried to rebrand this season as “All in August.” Our hope was that by putting a positive spin on it we might soften the blow. Honestly it hasn’t changed the fact that we always lose at least one crew member at this time of year. There has never been a season in my 25 years of farming where this is not the case. It gets hot, the work gets hard and somebody bails. It has happened enough times that I shouldn’t be surprised when it does. But I am an eternal optimist. I probably wouldn’t be a farmer if I wasn’t. Every season I forget what was hard about the last one and I try to make it better this time.

I do my best to try and prepare our crew for what is coming and make sure they have the tools they need to thrive during this hard transitional season. I want everybody to make it and see how amazing getting through their first season can be. Farming changed my life. It gave me purpose and proved that I could do hard things. Once you make it through the crucible of summer you realize that you can do anything.

There is a distinct shift happening on the farm right now. We are shifting into true summer. Our seasonality is based a lot around rainfall patterns and we are firmly in the dry season now. Despite living in a rainforest, we get more than 40 inches of rainfall a year. It is somewhat brittle because there is a clear wet and dry season. May through October we could get zero inches of rain and October through May we could get over three feet. By this time of the year things are getting a bit crispy. Any area that isn’t irrigated is brown and dry. There is also a shift in the produce available. We have less lettuce, and cabbage, and more tomatoes and eggplant.

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Summer has a feeling that is at once pleasant because it is warm and also irritating because it is dry. There is abundance in the garden but the pastures are looking sad. I don’t love summer. It means a lot of work and I don’t sleep well when it is warm at night. Luckily we don’t get that hot. I’m not sure I could live somewhere that has hot summer nights. I am coming to understand it. Summer is the necessary transition time from growth to decay. Summer is a pause and hold while we catch up with the wheel of life.

It’s almost like the year’s mid-life crisis. We’ve spent the spring growing and building but we haven’t yet reached full maturity. Just like in my own life I think it is important to not get swept away by the summer tide. Too much summer fun could derail good prudent plans. But by the same token you don’t want to just put your nose to the grindstone and miss hanging out with friends. My advice for anyone in middle age is don’t buy the sports car but do go on vacation. How well we weather the summer will determine how well we hold over the winter.

I am working to not get distracted by all of the projects on my plate. I have to keep a bit of focus during summer because there are so many competing priorities. I know I won’t get all of them done but I get to choose which direction to go. Soon it will not be so sunny and I’ll miss the warmth. So I have to set myself up now.

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But I don’t want to just focus on work. The summer sun at the river is rejuvenating and it only comes around once a year. Life has a funny way of giving you what you need when you need it. Just don’t over do it and usually everything turns out well in the end. Summer is like a day at the river. You either get a little bit tan or if you indulge too much you turn red and then you suffer. Life is about balance and knowing that the wheel of the seasons keeps turning.

I was listening to a great podcast the other day. Andrew Huberman had Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer, on his show. I am not totally familiar with Cesar’s work. I never watched his TV show or read his books. I knew of him vaguely, but I can’t say that I had ever evaluated his techniques. I put him in the world of “animal communication,” which can be a bit woo woo and honestly not very applicable. If you look up “animal communication” you’ll get a bunch of out there stuff; crystals, horse chiropractors, and psychics. Now don’t get me wrong honestly I can get behind some pretty woo things but the problem is that it is not a field that is considered very serious.

I think it should be seriously considered. Our relationship with animals is important and without proper communication skills we are blind. Even the everyday person is at some point in their life going to encounter a dog. It is important that we all know how to properly interact with them when we meet a dog on the street. Not to mention the number of people who become pet owners and have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

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Humans are unique as a species in that we communicate mostly through small mouth noises. Human to human communication is actually pretty complex involving body language, pheromones, and energetic exchange, but the reality is it is mostly a sound based language. The animals that we have the most affinity with, dogs and cats, are also fairly vocal but the bulk of their communication is not sound based. We assume that our dogs listen to us and a dog can learn to recognize words but it is not the main way they evolved to communicate. Animals interact with us on many levels beyond just the words we say.

One of the things that has been bothering me lately is the media’s depictions of animal-human interaction. Some of the time it is mythical or prehistoric animals, dragons and dinosaurs, but it is especially relevant with our domestic animals. The human protagonist holds out their hand and then the animal through some miracle puts their head in their hand. This is also how we tend to interact with any animal we see. People want to reach out and pet even very large animals like my oxen.

I do touch my animals but that right has to be earned, it is not a given. Especially the prey animals like cattle. They are going to be naturally wary of the human hand. The human hand is the most dangerous and deadly weapon on the planet. Our hands are the apex of an evolution towards greater capacity to change our environment. Our first interaction with any animal should not be through our hands. Our first interaction is actually through the nose. Allowing an animal to sniff you is the best first response.

I know this is hard for some people but I really appreciated Ceasar’s advice to not look, not speak and not touch a dog when you first come home. This establishes an energetic bond and sets the tone for a more calm and relaxed interaction. I see so many dogs get agitated when in the presence of someone who is trying to treat them like a little baby. That same behavior in the presence of a different species, like any of the prey species such as cattle, will cause them massive amounts of fear.

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It is important that we talk about how to properly interact with animals because even if you don’t ever train a team of oxen you most certainly are going to encounter a dog. It is critical that we get it right for our own safety and for that of the animals around us. So remember that your first instinct to reach out your hand is not the best one. Let the animal smell you first, then you can calmly interact with them. Your hand can be perceived as a threat. It is after all the deadliest weapon on earth.\

Yes, I probably do. My herd has grown steadily over the years and through selection I have been able to create a healthy group of animals. But I am limited by space. I don’t have endless amounts of land. Through management intensive grazing I’ve seen the health of our grass go up and that means I have been able to steadily increase the herd because my carrying capacity has increased. The land still seems to be improving but the immediate gains are slowing down. I am reaching an equilibrium on the pasture that I have. I’ve been able to supplement this with hay and irrigation, but even that is now reaching a point of slowing returns.

I am in a stage of growth where I have to make some hard decisions. I need to thin the herd or expand. There is not a huge amount of opportunity to expand so I really should be thinning the herd. I have plans to start this process this month but it is never an easy thing to do. I have to make some judgement calls on who gets to stay and who must go. This kind of culling process can make the herd stronger and more resilient but I have to be brutal with my decision making. It is too easy to let a cow who performs okay slip through and cause problems later. I really only want to keep the best of the best.

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This is the eye of the wolf that I have talked about before. The wolf keeps the herd in check. The animals that can’t make the cut are the first to go. The wolf doesn’t deliberate too much; he just knows which animals are going away. It is harder for a human to maintain that level of objectiveness. I have a different connection with the animals that I have raised from birth and seen them become mothers and grandmothers. Yet I still make the decision that needs to be made. I can see the larger picture if I zoom out and take in the whole. I can think rationally about the situation.

It is still not easy to do and I hesitate sometimes. I deeply care for my animals. I think about them more than most people would. I want to see them grow and prosper. Which is exactly why I need to de-stock my pastures. I need to be the wolf and make the hard decisions so that the whole herd can thrive.

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I am timing a round up after I finish this next cycle of grazing the irrigated pasture. I will herd everybody into the corral and select a group of cows to go. This is important management. It is not the sexy part of grass farming. It is not what we want to think about when we are making our grazing plan or writing out our holistic context. But it can be one of the most important management tools we have. We often forget that sometimes the fastest way to improve is to take something away rather than add something on.

Thinning the herd is hard. It takes a level of grit that makes a real cattleman. I can’t pretend in a myth of endless growth. Eventually I have to make the hard decision and de-stock. The grass will improve and my state of mind will as well. Once I finally make the decision to cull some cows I will breathe easier. Looking at the system as a whole is hard sometimes but a good manager will see past the individual and look after the herd.

Farm String Theory is not quantum but it could be more impactful on your life. I have a theory that includes all of the linear objects we use on the farm. We use a lot of “strings” everyday. Hoses, electrical cords, irrigation lines, ropes, baling twine and electric fences all qualify as “strings” in my definition. Any linear object that is rolled up, laid out, rolled up and used again. Every farm, heck, every household has many of these that they have to deal with on a daily basis. They are a source of usefulness as well as a suck of time when they get tangled. Ask anybody who has unknoted an extension cord or had to find the kink in the hose. You can spend valuable time fixing these issues when you could be doing any number of other things.

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This is where Farm String Theory comes in. I even have equations to explain it. Every linear object has a tangle factor, let’s call that T. Tangle factor is defined by the length (L) of a linear object divided by the diameter(D). The basic equation looks like this.

T = L/D

Tangle Factor is a ratio of length to diameter. As length goes up and diameter goes down, the tangle factor goes up. We all know this intuitively. 100 feet of rope is less likely to tangle than 100 feet of string, also 1 foot of rope or 1 foot of string is less likely to tangle.

So far this is all pretty basic but here is where it gets interesting. All “strings” aka linear objects can exist in two different states. There are strings on the reel and there are strings off the reel. Think of thread on a bobbin versus off the bobbin. They exhibit very different properties in the two different states. A string on the reel is in a stable and resting state; it is stable and full of potential. A string off the reel is subject to tangle factor and has the potential for chaos. You buy a new hose and it is tightly coiled in the package. It looks so neat and tidy, but as soon as you unleash it it can become a tangled mess.

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When dealing with all linear objects you will have to coil that string at some point. You lay out the irrigation line or the electric fence and at some point it will need to be recoiled. The coil size you use is critical to your success at doing this and your future sanity. For strings off the reel and in their more chaotic state the coil size should be determined by the tangle factor. The coil size(C) is directly proportional to the tangle factor.

C∝T

As the tangle factor goes up the coil size should also go up. This will help eliminate tangles. Now there is a minimum coil size that is practical for each object. Yes a very large coil size might eliminate the tangle factor but it might also be impractical. So you need to find the minimum realistic coil size. But this size will be larger than the coil size when the string is on the reel. This must be adhered to.

Strings on the reel can be coiled in much smaller coil sizes. Without mechanical advantage you are never going to get that hose rolled up to its original size when you bought it so don’t even try. The most egregious violation of this I often see is somebody rolling up an electrical cord between the hand and elbow. Don’t do this; it defies the laws of string theory. Don’t coil a hose in less than a three foot loop. It will kink. And for crying out loud if you have more than three hundred feet of something get a reel.

You want to make the strings work for you, not the other way around. If you find yourself working too hard to untangle the hose you have violated string theory. If your hose is kinked and your cord is tangled return to first principles. Tangle factor increases as length goes up and diameter goes down. This means you need to make a larger loop. Entanglement is a real danger.

Late last summer I experimented with letting our cattle graze in the forested part of our property. I hadn’t ever been able to fence this part of the farm and it remained “wild.” I spent days chainsawing through willow and poison oak to set up the fence that would allow me to graze the area. The tops of my hands were burned red from the oils in the poison oak. Luckily I don’t react badly to the plant but unfortunately Melanie does. I inevitably gave her a case of “the oak.” I am grateful that she tolerates my bushwhacking ways.

With the fence set up I let the herd into the area and they took to it like it was their native habitat, which it is. Bovines evolved in a mixed grassland and forest ecosystem. They are comfortable both in the trees and out on the plains. It was fascinating to see what they ate and what they left behind. They cleared the area enough to actually get into it. This was a part of the farm that I had never been able to set foot on because it was so overgrown it was inaccessible.

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Over the winter they periodically spent some time grazing in this paddock as well. There was not that much that they could eat there but it did give them a place to shelter during storms. It acts like a natural barn. The wind and rain are not so severe under the shelter of the trees. We live in a mild enough climate that the cows can graze 365 days a year but sometimes it is cold and wet. Because it was only every month or so they did not impact the area too much. I was grateful to see that they didn’t turn the area into mud.

Spring came and most of the plants recovered and there was more actual feed in the forest. They have been grazing there for the past few days and it is giving them a great supplement to their normal diet of pasture plants. There are plants they eat whole and others that they just eat the leaves to head height. Some things they trample to the ground which makes room for more growth of the plants they do eat.

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It has been a fascinating experiment to use the cows to clear the area. It makes it a lot more inviting to be able to access the forested area. It also gives the cattle a more diverse diet. A recent study proved that the nutrient density of beef was correlated with the diversity of their diet. They get to self medicate with herbs and other plants that they intuitively know are healthy and tonic for them. So this means healthier cattle and more nutritious beef for our customers.

Cattle are amazing creatures; they are just at home on the open plains as they are in the thick forest. It helps that we graze a hardy “old world” style of animal. They love the added opportunity to graze the shrubs, herbs, and trees of our silvopasture paddock. I will be curious to see how the species change and adapt over the years. So far I can definitely say that our little forest cow experiment has been a success.

I think we need 10 percent of people actively engaged in agriculture, to create a sustainable food economy. Right now the number is much less, around 1-2 percent. This would be a radical change in our economy and social structure. It would be revolutionary. If we had 10 percent of the population farming then we could easily produce our food locally. For example a town the size of Fortuna, the nearest town to the farm, at around 10,000 people, there would be 1000 farmers. 1,000 people could easily produce the food needed for 10,000. It would mean that our farm would have to fully support 10 people.

I look at what it takes to produce food and that seems easy to me. I know that if the zombie apocalypse comes I could easily support ten people. Maybe 10 percent is too ambitious of a goal but I think a goal like this should be. Even if we got closer to the mark it would have positive ripple effects. Everybody would know a farmer and they would understand what it takes to produce food. The overall agricultural IQ would skyrocket. The beauty of the 10 percent rule is that 90 percent of people wouldn’t have to farm. We also need teachers, bankers, and butchers. If the 90 percent supported the 10 percent then we would have a solid society.

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This is why I am so bullish on teaching and creating new farmers. My personal mission is to inspire as many young people as possible to become farmers or work in agriculture in some way. I am proud of the number of apprentices we have had on the farm that go on to start their own farms. There are some here locally and others all around the country. We need more farmers.

This is my personal mission. Nobody is paying me to train new farmers. Some other farmers think that apprentices or interns are just cheap labor, but that is far from the truth. We invest in these young people without direct gain because we believe in it. I would love to have support in the cause but I do it because I love seeing the lightbulbs go off in someone’s head when they start to see the connections between land and food. I want to know that these people are going to be producers, not just consumers.

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My next mission is to write “The Book” so that I can reach a larger audience. I have been inspired by so many writers of the years and I want to pass along the knowledge and wisdom that I have painstakely gained from 25 years of farming. To support this please subscribe or upgrade. I will be releasing the first installment of the book for paid subscribers soon. It won’t be a full chapter but a preview of the content. I hope to get feedback from y’all on the writing and flow of the story. And if you can’t upgrade right now just stay tuned here as I will continue to write a weekly essay on farm life and my thoughts. Thank you all for the support.

I use AI everyday. This might shock some people and some people might not agree that this is a good thing to do. I don’t write with it but I do run all my writing through it and use AI as a thought partner. I have to be honest most of the time I don’t take the suggestions it gives. AI is more like a human than a computer. It makes mistakes and honestly it doesn’t have the greatest ideas sometimes. I treat it so. I think some folks get into trouble when they just blindly trust what comes out of an AI system. Luckily my dad taught me to always be skeptical. I am wary of anything until it has proven utility. It does save a lot of time for administrative tasks and is an amazing resource for research and development. At the end of the day AI is just another technology.

I have written before about how I feel that what I do is not anachronistic but rather high tech. I still maintain that draft farming is not a throw back but rather a glimpse at the future. I use a lot of technology as a farmer. If I was a Luddite I would be a very poor farmer. In fact one of the core responsibilities of my job is to make sure that we are adopting the right technology. I love gadgets and machines. Some of them frustrate me more than others but I make sure that they all serve a purpose on the farm.

I grew up reading science fiction and I still like to get lost on alien worlds and spaceships. In fact from an early age my goal was to become an astronaut. I dreamed of boldly going where no one has gone before, and I always hoped that the force would be with me when I got there. In a strange way my dream has come true. Running a farm can feel like a colony on an alien planet sometimes. My landscape might be a little more mundane but then again have you seen a Redwood forest?

All the gear we use to make a living here is reminiscent of the same technology needed to eke out a life on some exotic planet somewhere in a galaxy far far away. I build machines, fix and adapt them to help us protect life here. I tinker and make do. The upgrades we have made in irrigation and fencing feel like space age technology. I essentially use a force field to contain my cattle. The single hot line might as well be an invisible barrier.

I still maintain that this is the best time in history to be a farmer. This is mainly because of our access to technology. I carry around a super computer in my pocket. I can finance a sophisticated tractor and the amount of small tool innovation for market gardeners is skyrocketing. At no other point of time have farmers had access to so much amazing tech. I don’t think we should blindly accept every new and shiny thing that is marketed at us but it would be foolish to simply turn away from the very real progress we have made.

I will continue to use AI tools to help run the farm business. I think that it would be foolish to toss the whole thing to the side. I am embracing the technology that serves our purpose and tossing away what doesn’t work. The decisions are hard but the opportunity is great. Once again I am not anti technology. I just think that it has to work and we should always be wary of the latest shiny object. I want to get away from the idea that farmers are stuck in the past. The reality is that our future has a meal in it and we better be prepared to make it a good one.

You could argue that digging graves is what makes us human. When early man started to honor the dead it was a major step for us as intelligent primates. We have dug graves for ourselves and covered our bodies in ochre. We have buried our beloved pets, and our important animals. When we started honoring our dead we essentially became more human.

I have dug many graves as a farmer. I have buried pets, and honored farm animals. The process is always cathartic and feels important. There is an urgency to it that pushes you to complete the task, and it gives an outlet for the emotions you are feeling. The physicality of it balances the emotional underpinnings. When tears fall they are absorbed into the soil.

This week I had to bury Vincent, one of our farm cats. He was one of two little kittens we brought to the farm well over ten years ago now. Our friend Dan found them while cleaning out an abandoned meth house. Needless to say they didn’t have a great start in this world. They were skittish and skinny. They needed a good home and a farm is a great place for a cat. At first we tried to bring them into the house because they were so small but it quickly became apparent that the ferocious fur balls were going to be outdoor cats.

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One of the kittens was missing part of one of his ears so he was named Vincent after one of my favorite artists (Vincent Van Gogh, in case you don’t get the reference). The other one was Diego after another of my favorite artists, Diego Rivera. They were turned loose on the farm and they did their job of rodent control and occasionally they came over a pet. Vincent was funny; he’d let you pet him for a second but then would quickly turn and bite you. You had to be wary of him. Diego passed naturally years ago but Vincent lived on and became the old man on the farm.

He would follow Melanie around when she was setting irrigation and you could often find him in the pack shed lounging. He became quite geriatric and skinny. Despite a decent appetite he always looked like an old cat. He would often attend our morning farm meetings but if you pet him too much he would bite you. Vincent was a funny cat and he started to soften with age.

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One day a couple of weeks ago he just came into the house. He had never been an inside cat but since he was clearly getting older we let him in. He would scratch at the door if we didn’t. He didn’t really know how to be an inside cat and he was never really that friendly. But he would sit on the couch and lean into you in a slightly affectionate way. We could tell that his health was failing and honestly we knew that he didn’t have much time left. So we let him enjoy his last days trying to be a house cat.

He puked often on the floor and we had to bring in a litter box so he didn’t poop near the fireplace. He was a bit of a high maintenance house guest. The other cats tolerated him, probably acknowledging his seniority.

Vincent was a weird cat and we called him a bit of a creepy gremlin. But he was sweet in his own way. He spent his last days with us and even slept on our bed for his last nights. The last time he came in we knew he was going to die. He was having a hard time standing and he had stopped eating a couple of days before. Vincent passed peacefully under one of Melanie’s sweaters on our couch.

It felt like an honor for him to share his dying process with us. He was a rugged farm cat and he didn’t have to come into the house, but he did and in his weird way it was sweet to see him during his last days. The dying wasn’t sudden; it took some time and he was willing to be with us as he passed over that threshold. So, I dug his grave in the back garden under the Elderberry. Rest in peace Vincent.

Recently both Melanie and I kicked off the irrigation season. We are putting extra energy into making sure the irrigation systems in both the garden and the field are running properly. This means evening runs to turn off and on pipes of various sizes, fixing leaks, and trying desperately to maintain a schedule so things don’t dry out too quickly. Water is key to farming. It is one of the most important resources that we manage. We are lucky to have good access to good water. Water is Life.

There would not be any life on this planet without water. They are actively looking for liquid water on other planets because it is the main thing that life needs to survive. Simple hydrogen and oxygen are the building blocks of life. This can’t be overstated. Once again water is life.

So we diligently tend to our water sources and spread it where it needs to go. Living in California means we can pretty much guarantee that we won’t get significant precipitation May through October. Out in the pasture I manage “Big Gun” the traveling reel water line that I use to keep a significant part of our pasture green through the dry season. This piece of equipment is a marvel of engineering. It diverts a small part of the flow of water to run a small water wheel that then in turns cranks the gears to slowly reel up the sprinkler. When it works it is amazing, but there are a lot of moving parts and it is prone to breaking down. I spend a considerable amount of time during the summer adjusting and maintaining this crazy machine.

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We are often chasing leaks in the low pressure drip irrigation system in the garden as well. Any water system of any scale will require maintenance. Water is the most “hippy” of the basic elements. It says “You can’t contain me within your spherical paradigm man.” It wants to run freely over the landscape unconstrained and free. Unfortunately we have a need to direct it where we want it to be, but it will rebel against us at every turn. Water is life and it is a dynamic and powerful force.

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By simply adding water to our pastures we are able to dramatically increase the amount of cattle we can run. It jump starts the regeneration process. I still maintain that you can always regenerate grass land simply with grazing impact but when I can add irrigation into the mix it is like throwing gasoline on the fire. It happens more quickly and we get to take advantage of the increased forage production immediately instead of years down the line.

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Water is life and it is precious. We need to make sure we are using it in a responsible way. This means making sure it is going where we need it and not running away. It means using just as much as we need and not too much. There has to be water for our waterways and wildlife as well. And it means appreciating the power it has. The land comes alive with water and we want to honor and respect that. The cows appreciate the green grass during the hot summer months. In order to love the land we have to acknowledge that water is life.

One of the reasons why I use oxen on the farm is because they are literally lighter on the land. The action of a hoof on soil is way different than a wheel’s contact with the ground. When you think about it a hoof is only in contact with the ground for a moment when an animal is walking. The wheel, however, is always putting pressure on the soil. This is how a team of oxen that weigh 4000 pounds together can leave less impact than a vehicle of the same weight.

If I drive our new gator across the field I will see the wheel tracks there for weeks afterward. I could walk the oxen across the same field even pulling a sled and I wouldn’t be able to tell where they have been. I have even driven the oxen through flood waters and have seen no notable damage to the field afterward. If I was to drive the tractor in those wet conditions I am likely to get stuck and at the very least there would be wheel ruts there for months afterward.

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Now don’t get me wrong I love wheels. They offer so much mechanical advantage that it would be foolish to deny their usefulness. They are truly one of the mechanical wonders of the world. When humans began using the wheel to move loads it changed our destiny. But we have to come to grips with the fact that wheels make roads.

Animals on foot can create single track pathways when they habitually walk in the same place. That is different from a road. When humans invented the wheel they also spontaneously made roads. This is the side effect of the wheel. What is important is how and where we place those roads. When I am walking around with my oxen it is not as important that I pay attention to my habitual pathways. They don’t leave as much impact. With the gator, however, it is easy to create a roadway where I may not want one. With the wheel comes a greater responsibility to manage the landscape. Where we drive matters.

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I wish there was more thought put into this on all levels of road management. Roads are useful but there is no denying that a road is more impactful on the environment than a simple pathway. Ultimately we are all creatures of habit and when we move in regular patterns that impact shapes the environment around us. There are consequences and compromises anytime we make a road. Make sure you know exactly where you want it.

The wheel is one of humans most remarkable achievements. It is probably second only to fire in changing our destiny on this planet. We have created a multitude of them in all shapes and sizes. They can help us move loads that are impossible otherwise. I want us to remember that with the wheel also comes the road. Be mindful of your impact on the micro and the macro scale. We all benefit from the wheel but we want to place our roads thoughtfully, because the impact can be great.

Some lessons in life you have to learn twice. Last week my usual Substack post didn’t go out until Tuesday. I have been consistently publishing on Monday morning for well over a year now. It was a big one for me. I was unveiling my plan to begin writing a book and offering early versions of the chapters to paid subscribers. It took me a long time to work up the courage to put this out there. And then I was late. Here I was putting myself on the line and I knew I was going to break my streak. I did it anyway and I am glad to get last week’s piece published. I encourage anyone out there to sign up for the paid subscription in order to get an early release of “The Book.” I will be talking about what “The Book” is in the coming weeks.

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The reason I was late is the subject of this week’s essay. I’ve talked about how being a farmer means you are a “Jack of all Trades,” and a “Maintenance Man.” So there I was out in the field fixing things when I forgot a critical piece of equipment. One of the runners on the old chicken coop had worn through and the metal was starting to bend and break underneath. This coop is getting older and will be decommissioned this fall. I needed to cut it off so that the coop would move easily over the ground. I got all my gear and headed out with the tractor to fix the problem. I have been doing this long enough that I had actually done this procedure before. It is already a sketchy task because I have to lift the coop up with the loader of the tractor and work underneath it. That was when I realized I had forgotten to bring out my eye protection. I decided to do the work anyway.

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I quickly cut the metal and ground down the sharp edges. It wasn’t until later that night that I felt something in my eye. I suffer from a bit of seasonal allergies so I just thought I had an itchy eye. Sunday came and the pain started increasing. I knew that I had a piece of metal in my eye because this had happened before. The last time I felt this pain I actually had been wearing eye protection and still a shard of metal had embedded itself into my eyeball. Once the metal starts to rust is when the pain really starts to get intense.

Luckily one of our shareholders and a neighbor here in Carlotta is an eye doctor. Shout out to Doctor Paul. We called him and went over to his house on Sunday afternoon. He had the equipment to remove the metal splinter but he did not have any anesthetic. I did it anyway, and I have to say removing metal from the eye without any numbing agent is one of the more painful things I’ve done in my life. But the option was to wait another day and let the metal rust into my eye more. After getting it out he prescribed some antibiotics to help the eye fight infection.

Like I said this is not the first time he has done this for me. Hopefully this time I have learned my lesson. I will be wearing my F%cking eye protection from here on out. So I do have a legitimate excuse for missing my first Monday morning publish date in over a year. It was bound to happen sometime. I am excited to launch my new project and if you want to support my work and get a preview of “The Book” upgrade to a paid subscription. I truly appreciate all the support you all have given me through this process.

And remember to always wear your eye protection.

This week I am going to do something a little different. I want to start a new project and see if I can get some of y’all to jump on board with me. I started writing this Substack in order to practice my writing. The honest truth is that I have always wanted to be a writer but I am not that good at it. I struggle with my attention. Focus has always been hard for me. Plus I have never been confident enough to put my thoughts out there. Writing is hard. It makes me think and organize my thoughts in a way that I have never tried to do before. It is making me a better thinker, and speaker. But it is really hard for me. I am not a natural writer. The words don’t just flow from my fingers. My writing is slow and cumbersome. With practice it is getting easier but I still have to work hard for every word on the page.

Writing this newsletter is the structure and container that allows me the discipline to practice my writing. I know that I have to have something written by Monday morning (this one is a day late and I’ll explain why next week). I feel accountable to my small but growing audience. I get plenty of wonderful feedback and it incentivises me to keep writing. I wake up at 5 am every morning to write before I start my day. This is when the house and farm are quiet and I can focus on getting my thoughts down on paper. This daily routine has become a part of who I am now. Alongside good food, good sleep, and exercise it is now one of my “non negotiables.”

I was listening to Rick Rubin interview Chris Best, one of the co-founders of Substack, on his podcast, Tetragrammaton, the other day. He was talking about how Jonathan Haidt had serialized his latest book on Substack. Writing pieces of it and releasing it to his audience. I thought that might be a great idea for me to start writing the book that I have always wanted to write. Writing a book is a big goal and it is hard to conceptualize the whole thing. If I break it into smaller, more manageable chunks it doesn’t seem too overwhelming. I also like the idea of using the community to get feedback on the project. No book is ever written outside of community. It is a lot like raising a kid, it takes a village.

I will be releasing a preview of each chapter to paid subscribers once a month. This will hold me accountable and allow me to also receive feedback on my writing process. I also want to grow my paid subscriber base and as of yet I have not offered anything but thanks to them. It is a way to get a preview of the book and support me with writing it.

I am grateful for everyone who follows my work. Your support has been what keeps me coming back here to pound out sentences everyday. I will keep everybody updated as this project comes along and if you want to support me in writing this book sign up for a paid subscription and I will be posting the introduction next month.

I have a confession to make. I don’t like banjo music. I’ve finally come to that conclusion. You might have figured that considering what I do that I would love old timey music. After all, driving oxen and simply being a farmer makes it seem like that would be something I’d be into. Often farming seems like a throwback to older and “simpler” times. It might feel a bit anachronistic to work draft animals. So it could be easy to see me sitting on an old front porch playing a banjo. But I have to be honest, I don’t really like the sound of it.

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I tried for many years. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate the musicianship and skill that it takes to play bluegrass or old time, and I have many friends who are wonderful musicians that play in the genre. Heck I even owned a banjo for a couple of years. There is a strong old time music scene in Humboldt and I was drawn to the sense that it harked back to a better time when we were all farmers. It was a part of my identity for a while. I wore overalls and suspenders and played the part of the dirty farmer. I was drawn to the nostalgia and the idea of it, but I never really learned how to play that banjo.

It was hard to tune and I was never really drawn to the twangy sound. If I’m honest I am more of a metal head. I grew up with Metallica, Primus, and Nirvana. Being from Arizona I also listened to my fair share of Garth Brooks, Alabama, and Brooks and Dunn. But I have found that I just don’t like banjo music. The great part of being older and more confident is that I can do whatever I want and break any stereotype that people might have of me.

Just because I work with draft animals doesn’t mean that I work in a living history museum. I actually think that what I do is cutting edge and honestly I can see it as a part of our future not our past. I want to fight against the stereotype of the dirty, dumb and poor farmer. What I do is extremely skilled and honestly farming is one of the most cognitively demanding professions there is. In order to run a successful farm I have to wear many hats and honestly most of the time it is not a floppy straw hat and overalls.

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I know I have an uphill battle with this. It is evidenced by the fact that when I post on social media with a clip that has some twangy country music in the background it gets way more engagement than when I post a clip with something I actually like. If I played to the algorithm my feed would be full of dueling banjos. The same would be true if I posted workout videos to bluegrass instead of heavy metal. We all have our algorithmic trap.

I think it is important for me to push back against the assumption that as a farmer I am dirty, dumb, and poor. The future of farming is smart, clean, and professional. I want this life to be advertised for what it really is. This is not some throwback to a romantic pastime. I want to look to the future, not the past, without dismissing where we have come from.

I don’t think that the assumptions about farming and farmers are helpful. It is not beneficial to see them stuck in the past. If we want a thriving regenerative agriculture we need to drop our prejudices on what a farmer looks like. Good farmers can come from a variety of backgrounds. A farmer has to be an entrepreneur, a soil scientist, a teacher, and a leader. It’s okay if they like banjo music, I just have to be honest I prefer my heavy metal.

We had the driest and hottest March on record and now it is shaping up to be one of the wettest Aprils on record. I am grateful for this. The weather in March had me scared about this year’s grass season. Without the spring rains the biggest flush of grass for the season would not have occurred. This could have been devastating but luckily we have been saved by a series of good spring storms. I do have the ability to irrigate and I plan to keep a section of the pasture green through the summer, but starting the irrigation that early is unheard of here.

Rain is literally free water from the heavens. An inch of rain over the course of a day or two equals a complete irrigation on the entire farm. For perspective it would take me irrigating every day for a week to cover a ten acre piece of ground. During the summer by the time I finish that I would need to start the cycle over again. It takes me an hour to two hours each day to set up and monitor the irrigation system. Then I have to pay for the electrical power to run the pump. So yeah, a free irrigation is a serious boon for me.

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Grass is not a static thing. I don’t think most people realize how much of a seasonal difference there is in grass growth. When you look out over a field it might look green or sometimes brown to you but the reality is grass is like a wave. Early on when I first started grazing I didn’t have enough animals and I would quickly get overcome by the seasonal grass flush. It would grow fast in the spring and my handful of animals couldn’t keep up and it would quickly grow past the stage where they would eat it. Cattle are a bit less picky than sheep but they mostly like to eat grass in the early stage of green leaf growth and into the first stages of flowering. This is often called stage two growth. They are not so interested once it enters into the stage three of growth which is full flowering and starting to dry down.

The ideal nutrition is right around stage two growth. The grass plants have started to send up flower stalks but it hasn’t reached peak bloom. This is when there is a good balance of green leaf, which is more protein, and flower stalk which is more carbohydrate. The early spring when the grass is mostly just fast growing leaves it is commonly referred to as “washy. This wet early growth is quick to exit the cow and can be very obvious at this time of year. I feed a dry hay at this time to help balance the diet and slow down the feed in the gut of the cow. I don’t want it all squirting out the backside.

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During the spring it is hard to keep all the pastures at the ideal stage of growth because they all want to flower quickly. Grass has an evolutionary mandate to set seed and die. That is how it propagates itself. As grass managers we have to keep it just on the edge for as long as possible. So I bunch up the cattle and move them quickly across the landscape.

Spring grazing is like riding a green wave. If you miss it you will be chasing it all year long. Early on when I didn’t quite have the animals I would have to mow in order to keep the grass regenerating. Now I can let my cows out to surf the season.

Gas prices are high and diesel prices in Humboldt county are even higher. The sticker shock is real. We historically pay some of the highest fuel prices in the country here in Humboldt county. There are many reasons for this but it is part of being behind the “redwood curtain.” There is no way around it. We are all going to feel the price crunch of this new energy crisis.

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It is times like these that I am often asked about the oxen because ostensibly they save me money on fuel that I wouldn’t have to put into a tractor. This is true they do run off of grass and sunshine. In fact it is one of the reasons that I was drawn towards draft animals. I wanted to find a way to grow “petrol free” produce. I love farming and when I was a tractor farmer I spent many hours burning diesel. I loved turning the earth and prepping the soil. This is my real skill as a farmer. I have a deep and intuitive knowledge of the ground that I have honed with many hours on a tractor. The diesel, hydraulic fluid, and lithium grease felt like my deal with the devil. I got to do the good work that I loved but I had to use petroleum products. I never liked the smell and toxicity of them.

I wanted to find a better way that didn’t involve burning stinky diesel. I wanted to hear the soil slipping off the plow rather than the constant roar of the engine. I also didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to share the experience with a team. I spent days and days on end alone on a tractor. The idea of working with draft animals seemed like the ideal way to farm and work the earth but not have to use petroleum.

In many ways I have succeeded in that. I get to go out with my team of oxen everyday and work in the field without burning diesel. But it is always more nuanced than that. We still have a tractor, but I am lucky that I don’t have to sit alone on it out in the field plowing up dirt. We use it mostly for the compost making side of our operation. It is still more cost effective to use it rather than a shovel for moving manure around. I use it for unloading pallets of feed and other supplies. The tractor is still really valuable to our operation and I am grateful for it but I still gasp when I have to fill up the diesel right now.

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And then there is the elephant in the room. Transportation. Most farmers I know who use a tractor still put more diesel in their truck than the tractor. Transportation costs are the largest factor in almost all products including agricultural products. The fact of the matter is that most people use more fuel driving themselves around than we do on the farm. We are lucky to market all of our produce within a fifty mile radius to the farm. Everything I grow is sold in Humboldt county, and still my single biggest fuel expense is transportation. Unfortunately the amount I save on fuel because of my oxen doesn’t cancel out the cost of getting to market. It does help but ultimately we have to find a better way to solve transportation.

I am lucky I get to work with my team every day. They only emit fertility in their emissions, and they are not very loud when chewing their cud. They run off solar power and water. They have personality and sometimes they actually seem like they listen to me when I rant. Now if only they would take me into town.