#016 4T% Ranch: Cold Hard Cattle - Ben Adams

In this episode I sit down with Ben Adams, owner and operator of 4T% Ranch in Soldotna, Alaska, to talk about the work, the cost, and the conviction behind one of the wildest modern ranching stories I have ever heard. Ben grew up poor in Canada with a legally blind father, learned responsibility early, and eventually "fluked" his way into a career as a criminal defense attorney. Years later, he walked away from the courtroom, carved a ranch out of the boreal forest on the central Kenai Peninsula, and has been grinding ever since to raise some of the most nutritionally dense beef in the country. Along the way, his body and spirit have taken a beating from brutal winters, dead calves,  broken equipment, borough taxes, skeptical farmers, and the foreboding task it is to build success in the ag industry. Through it all, Ben’s impenetrable work ethic, his love for cattle, and his belief that food should actually nourish people keep him going. His transparency on social media has turned 4T% Ranch into something like a live action docu series. Building quite the community of those that cheer him on, but not without those that remain skeptical and criticize his unconventional approach to life and ranching. In this episode we talk about: Ben’s childhood in Canada and what it was like to be raised by a legally blind single dad while living in povertyHow those early years shaped his work ethic and his decision to grind through university and law schoolThe SWAT raid that flipped his view of the justice system and pushed him toward criminal defense workGoing from broke public defender to successful private attorney and multimillionaire, then choosing a harder life anywayWhy he always saw law as a way to someday become a farmerBuying land on the Kenai, building a massive timber frame home from his own trees, and the decision to ranchHow a few cows turned into hundreds, and why ranching in the central Kenai Peninsula might be the toughest way to raise beef in AlaskaThe insane logistics of feeding and moving cattle when almost everything has to be trucked in or hauled for hoursLosing money, losing cattle, and nearly breaking himself during long winters and calving seasonsWhy he feeds root crops like potatoes, beets, and carrots, and what the nutritional testing on his beef actually showedThe lack of real support for agriculture in Alaska, from tax policy to local culture, and the pushback he has felt from some in the ag communityBuying a USDA plant to keep local processing alive, and why he did it even though it cost him dearlyThe future of farming and food security in the United States as older producers age out and fewer young people step inFollow 4T% Ranch on FacebookOrder beef from 4T% RanchText: 907-394-5619 He tracks orders by text. Reach out, tell him you heard the podcast, and he will walk you through what cuts are available and how pickup or delivery works.  If this conversation hit home for you, the best way to support the show is to: Follow or subscribe to The State I Am In wherever you listenLeave a rating and review on Spotify or Apple PodcastsShare this episode with a friend who cares about Alaska, ranching, or where their food comes fromSubscribe on YouTube and share a clip on your social mediaThank you for listening and for supporting Alaskan stories. Keep North, Alaska. Shoot me a text, what do you think?