In this episode of UNWON, Keely Covello sits down with Sierra Anthony of Butcher Solutions, LLC in Three Forks, Montana. Sierra is a meat scientist, butcher educator, and competitive butcher. They talk about the forgotten craft that connects livestock producers to consumers.

Sierra grew up in beef cattle production and now travels the country training butchers, educating producers and consumers, and consulting with meat processors. She holds a master’s in meat science, competed for the United States at the World Butchers’ Challenge in Paris, and spends most of the year on cold concrete floors in small-town plants training the people who cut America’s beef.

They talk about the “Olympics of Meat,” why America has so little formal butcher education, the labor shortage facing small processors, and why Sierra believes rebuilding the butcher profession could help reconnect Americans with their food.

Then they get into the nitty gritty. Sierra breaks down the three tiers of meat inspection, the difference between inspection and grading, why there is no such thing as a bone-in ribeye, how a New York restaurant special became Pennsylvania’s word for every ribeye, and why the picanha has three names. She walks through the 1960s math still used to grade every beef carcass in the country, the MRI technology one major packer plans to adopt in 2028, and what a shift toward leaner cattle would mean for ranchers’ checks.

Recorded September 1, days after President Trump said ranchers should be able to process their own meat, Sierra gives a butcher’s view on deregulation, food safety, and the trust that holds the American food system together, earned by being the best in the world.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

🥩 Why a bone-in ribeye technically isn’t a ribeye

🥩 The difference between picanha, culotte, and top sirloin cap

🥩 The “secret cuts” you should ask your butcher for

🥩 Why restaurants can help introduce consumers to new cuts

🥩 Yield grades 1–5 explained

🥩 Why bigger ribeyes aren’t necessarily the answer

🥩 How new technology could change the way cattle are evaluated

🥩 Federal vs. state inspection vs. custom exempt

🥩 Inspection vs. grading

🥩 Grass-finished vs. grain-finished beef

🥩 Hormone implants

🥩 Why lamb could make a comeback

🥩 How to buy a quarter, half, or whole beef

🥩 What makes a great butcher

And yes, how Sierra orders her steak!

Show Notes

Sponsored by RanchVision, the software ranchers use to boost profits and make better decisions: ranchvision.io

Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.

Follow Sierra / Butcher Solutions

Butcher Solutions LLCTraveling butcher school, meat science education and meat-processing consultation.Butcher Solutions

Book training with SierraIn-person and virtual training, including butcher education and wild-game processing.Book a Training

Instagram — @butcher_solutions_llcFollow Butcher Solutions on Instagram

Butchers of AmericaA national organization working to connect, train and support America’s butchers.Butchers of America

World Butchers’ ChallengeThe international butchery competition Sierra competed in with Team USA.World Butchers’ Challenge

World Butchers’ Challenge 2028 — Brisbane2028 Competition Information

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It’s been quite a week in cattle country. A viral headline said one in five steers in American feedlots is lactating. Then the president announced 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef is coming in at 25% below market. We’re diving into all of it on this episode of Ranch Beat.

Sponsored by Ranch Vision: www.ranchvision.io. Two week trial available now, including weekly onboarding calls, free of charge.

Show Notes

The lactating steer study: Petit, Eckhardt, Lucherk, Schwartz, Brown and Lawrence, “Outcomes of Unintended Consequences: Frequency of Lactation and Intact Males and Their Impact in Finished Cattle.” West Texas A&M University with a Cargill co-author. AMSA 2024 abstract, expanded as a poster at the 2025 Plains Nutrition Council Spring Conference.

The beef import announcement: Trump to allow import of 300,000 metric tons of ground beef without tariff (CNBC)

The fight inside the administration: “Knives out”: Internal fighting skewers Trump’s beef tariff plan (E&E News by POLITICO)

MCOOL and the Farm Bill: Senate advances beef MCOOL even as Farm Bill stalls (Capital Press)

American Beef Labeling Act, S.421

R-CALF USA on the House Farm Bill and the MCOOL amendment

Beef prices: BLS average price, fresh regular 100% ground beef, via FRED. $6.885 per pound, July 2026.

Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.

Congressman James Gallagher (CA-1) joins UNWON six weeks after being sworn in to finish the late Doug LaMalfa’s term. Now he's running in a district Prop 50 redrew to beat him, against the state senator he says helped draw it.

We talk about what he's learned in Washington, the water bill he's naming for LaMalfa, why he thinks the Scott Dam seismic case is bogus, wolves killing cattle in Lassen County, the proposal to bring grizzlies back to California, cartel grows stealing a billion gallons of water a year from public lands, and his pitch to Democrats in a district that now runs from Susanville to Santa Rosa.

Gallagher is a sixth-generation Sutter County farmer, former Assembly Republican Leader, and now the newest member of California’s congressional delegation.

Show Notes

James Gallagher for Congress

Sponsored by RanchVision, the software ranchers use to boost profits and make better decisions: ranchvision.io

Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.

UNWON is reader-supported. To support independent journalism for the American West, become a subscriber.

The United States had 131,000 dairy farms in 1992. Today, we have just 23,600. San Diego County alone went from more than 100 dairies to one.Kevin Muno just made it two.He is a first generation producer, a former college baseball player with no agricultural background, and he built the only certified raw milk dairy in Southern California from scratch. This conversation covers how he did it, what the regulatory path actually looked like, and why he thinks the future of dairy is bioregional rather than national.We also get into where the food influencer conversation has gone wrong, the grain vs. grass-finished debate, and who should be leading the MAHA discussion.00:00 Intro02:12 Meet Kevin Muno of Perennial Pastures02:38 Getting certified: paperwork, CDFA, first milk in the tank03:08 From Los Angeles to baseball to ranching04:00 The Paleo Diet04:51 Deep roots in California06:00 The injury that ended baseball, and the man behind the curtain07:28 Learning from Rodger Savory and holistic management09:35 Johan Zietzman, ultra high density grazing, and genetics11:51 Why a dairy, why Southern California, and why now?12:20 Losing 16,000 acres of leases13:37 What customers asked for most: raw milk16:30 Importing a milking parlor from Lithuania18:55 From Angus, Moshona, Corriente to A2A2 Jerseys20:14 Bringing back the milkman21:41 Vegans are becoming regenerative ag advocates24:37 From 131,000 dairies to 23,60025:36 Conventional vs. regenerative, and the false choice33:37 Grain-finished beef vs. grass-finished beef39:48 Cattle on Western landscapes42:05 The case for raw milk42:52 How pasteurization won: Nathan Straus and Dr. Henry Coit48:17 Health claims, and a clinical trial in the works50:00 Working with CDFA, and where the code needs updating54:38 California's food safety standards and daily testing55:55 Advice for the next dairyman59:24 Where to find Perennial PasturesShow NotesFind Kevin:Perennial Pastures Ranch: perennialpasturesranch.comInstagram: @perennialpasturesranchX: @regenranchingMentioned in this episode:The Paleo Diet by Dr. Loren CordainRestoration Agriculture by Mark ShepardAllan Savory and holistic managementJohan Zietsman, ultra high density grazingRaw Milk Institute (RAWMI)Dr. Weston A. PriceHappy Hens Egg Farm, Ramona, CARegenifiedSponsored by RanchVision, the software ranchers use to boost profits and make better decisions: https://www.ranchvision.ioSpecial thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at https://www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.UNWON is reader-supported. To support independent journalism for the American West, become a subscriber: https://www.americaunwon.com

Retired Lt. John Nores spent 28 years as a California game warden, and most of that career fighting a hidden war most Americans don’t know exists. In 2005, he was ambushed by cartel gunmen in the mountains above Silicon Valley. His partner took an AK-47 round through both legs and nearly bled out waiting three hours for rescue. Out of that day came the Marijuana Enforcement Team or MET, the elite tactical unit Nores co-founded and led for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

For UNWON, he talks about what it’s like to walk into a cartel grow on public land, the banned nerve agent poisons killing wildlife and watersheds, poisoned cannabis reaching legal dispensary shelves and unwitting consumers, the billion gallons of water stolen every year, trafficked workers imprisoned at grow sites, the Chinese crime groups partnering with Mexican cartels, the war’s shifting front to the Northern border and tribal lands, and the full story of what happened on August 5, 2005.

John Nores is the author of Hidden War and War in the Woods, a recipient of the Governor’s Medal of Valor, star of three seasons of Nat Geo’s Wild Justice, and co-host of the Thin Green Line podcast. He founded El Oasis, a nonprofit sheltering orphaned children in Baja, Mexico.

Chapters

0:00 Intro3:28 Stanley the mule packs out a cartel harvest9:14 Happening upon a DTO grow site for the first time in 200422:00 El Diablo: banned poisons in the woods32:17 What a game warden actually does39:26 Working with ranchers 47:54 Game warden career advice55:43 Poisoned weed on legal dispensary shelves57:39 How the black market went national1:00:00 What is the Chinese cartel doing?1:06:00 Sanctuary state orders and FTO designation1:11:50 What killed a bear and her cub1:14:25 “Mexico Norte”1:16:57 The new front: The Canadian border 1:22:00 Fentanyl on the Blackfeet Nation1:29:11 Trafficking at the grow sites1:32:40 Stolen water, Jenny’s warning, and the Drewry murder1:33:14 Debbie: the murder that opens Hidden War1:36:40 Fighting to clean up the forest1:46:14 August 5, 2005: the full story2:08:28 The cost2:15:04 The three foot rule: where he finds hope

Show Notes

Sponsored by Ranch Vision — Profit planning software for grazing operators. Sign up now for a free 2-week trial, no credit card required!

Read John Nores’ books:

* Hidden War, 2nd Edition (foreword by Jack Carr):

* War in the Woods

Follow John:

* Instagram: @johnnores

* Website

Mentioned in this episode:

John’s congressional testimony, “Securing Our Border: Saving Our National Parks,” House Committee on Natural Resources

His second testimony, “Cartel Impacts to Tribal Lands throughout America”

NARCOFORNIA, Daily Caller documentary featuring John Nores

Nat Geo’s Wild Justice, three seasons featuring John Nores and the MET

Hippies & Cowboys: The Murder of Mendocino County Rancher Dick Drewry, my written investigation into an unsolved killing on Bell Springs Road

High Country Murder, the documentary short streaming free at Real Clear Politics, directed by Keely Covello & Michaela Gillies

Show credits:

* Produced and edited by Josh Woolwine

* Intro by Josh Woolwine

UNWON is a reader-supported project focused on rural America. Become a paid subscriber to help support the mission at www.americaunwon.com.

By August 1, the last two ranching families in the infamous Point Reyes buyout will be gone.

Keely Covello has covered this story since January of 2025. More than 18 months, close to 20 articles, interviews with the ranchers, ecologists, attorneys, and neighbors watching a 150-year-old community dissolve in real time.

With the ending now days away, this episode of The Read is the whole story, start to finish, in one place for the first time. If you have followed along, this is the story assembled into a single arc. If you are new to it, this is everything you need to know about what happened here, and why it should matter to you no matter where you live in the United States.

The episode runs through the parts of this story that never made the national coverage:

The whistleblower. A former Park Service superintendent documented the government’s playbook in 2006, such as using water-quality complaints as a weapon to get ranchers off the Channel Islands. Then he stood in front of the Point Reyes families in 2014 and told them they were next.

The scientist. A grazing ecologist turned rancher who gathered 10 years of data showing how the ranchers and their cattle benefited Point Reyes and tried in vain to get someone at the Park Service to care.

The Blackhawk. The 1997 raid on the last holdout ranch on Santa Cruz Island. Officers in ski masks pulled a 15 year-old girl out of bed, as the government mobilized to seize the last piece of private land in Channel Islands National Park.

The lawfare. The ranchers won their environmental review, earned a recommendation for renewed 20-year leases, and then watched the same green groups sue again because they did not like the outcome.

The conspiracy. Internal emails revealed Park Service officials, who portrayed themselves themselves as neutral, celebrated the ranchers’ removal. Did they conspire with the NGOs all along to get the ranchers out?

The money. The $10 million state grant The Nature Conservancy secured before the deal was finalized, that the ranchers were never told existed. The $40 million in donor dinners hosted in Marin County mansions to discuss “the future of Point Reyes” over wine and appetizers. Congressman Jared Huffman who brought the NGO into the talks and then hosted the town hall for a post-mortem after the papers were already signed.

The last rancher standing. David Evans, the one rancher free to speak because he never signed an NDA, who gave UNWON his first interview.

This is not only a California story. The same agency, running the same playbook, has now moved ranchers off many places across the United States. Open questions remain, and UNWON is not done following this story.

Listen to the full episode above. All of the reporting behind it, close to 20 pieces, is here on UNWON.

The Read is UNWON’s narrated journalism, reported and hosted by Keely Brazil Covello. This episode is a retrospective drawn from 18 months of coverage.

Show Notes

* The Point Reyes Act of 1962 and the 1978 amendment, codified at 16 U.S.C. § 459c-5, which gave the ranching families first right of refusal on their leases

* Chris Bray’s FOIA reporting on the National Park Service emails

* Sonoma Mountain Institute grassland monitoring data referenced by Nate Chisholm

Sponsored by Ranch Vision: www.ranchvision.io

Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.

READ MORE:

Steve Hilton is running to restore California’s unique spirit. The Republican nominee for governor says his campaign isn’t partisan; he believes government should get the basics right—roads, schools, public safety, water—then leave people alone.

He calls it the rebel spirit: the soul of a state built by people who did things their own way, now smothered by a bureaucracy that tells Californians what to drive, how to build, makes their lives unbearably expensive, and destroys the infrastructure that built the state.

Hilton was born in London to parents who escaped communist Hungary, ran domestic policy from 10 Downing Street, then chose California, and American citizenship. He’s campaigned across the state, and wrote the book on its decline (Califailure).

In this conversation, Steve Hilton goes deep on the issues impacting rural California:

Water. Trump’s “giant spigot” is real; he’s seen it. Hilton discusses how bureaucrats decide what flows through the Delta pumps, and why he says he can raise deliveries almost immediately, no new construction required. Plus his on-record commitment to protecting the Potter Valley dams and supporting a buyer.

Power. Behested payments, “legalized corruption,” breaking up PG&E, $3 gas, and why working people are subsidizing Teslas they’ll never drive.

Land. Wolves attacking cattle while ranchers face arrest; why predator decisions should be returned to counties. Cartels in the forests and a governor who has never once met with the state’s sheriffs. Bringing back the timber industry; six billion board feet a year, now down to about a billion and a half, while lumber is trucked in from Canada and overgrown forests burn.

Winning. He talks about what happened to Spencer Pratt in L.A., the ground game Charlie Kirk helped him plan, and the math: (6 million votes takes the state, and Trump got 6.1 million here in 2024).

Hilton makes his pitch to the ranchers and hippies, farmers and libertarians, loggers and back-to-the-landers of California’s forgotten half, united mostly by being governed by people who have never set foot in their counties. Whatever your politics, if you live on this side of California, this conversation is about your water, your power bill, your forests, your future.

Show Notes

Sponsored by Ranch Vision: www.ranchvision.io

Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.

Referenced in this episode:

* Steve Hilton for Governor: stevehiltonforgovernor.com

* Califailure: Reversing the Ruin of America’s Worst-Run State by Steve Hilton

* Golden Together — Achieving Water Abundance, the water blueprint co-authored with Edward Ring, and the Modern Forest Management paper: goldentogether.com

* High Country Murder — Keely’s documentary on the unsolved killing of Mendocino County rancher Dick Drewry in the Emerald Triangle: americaunwon.com/p/film

* UNWON’s Potter Valley coverage: Rollins and Burgum convene meeting between PG&E and potential dam buyers · Secretary Rollins fires back at Huffman · Who would want the Potter Valley dams? Meet Darcy Burke of Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District

* UNWON: UC Davis study finds beef is the main food source for California wolves

* Victor Davis Hanson — Is California Reaching Critical Mass?

UNWON — Underdog journalism for rural, working, and Western America. Subscribe for more stories Sacramento ignores.

On Friday, the Trump administration finalized the biggest change to the Endangered Species Act in decades: the federal government will no longer treat habitat modification as "harm" to protected species.

In this episode of Ranch Beat, learn what actually changed, why supporters call it the end of decades of federal overreach, why environmental groups are already vowing to sue, and what it could mean for ranchers, loggers, and energy producers across the West.

Show Notes:

Read the full report at www.americaunwon.com.

Special thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.

UNWON is reader-supported. To support independent journalism for the American West, become a subscriber.

The first episode of The Read, the new UNWON segment where I narrate my investigative reporting straight from the page, no cuts.

We open with “Pay to Play,” an investigation into REAL AZ Economic Development Group: a Navajo County, Arizona nonprofit run by sitting county officials, out of county offices, that took in more than a million dollars from the same wind and solar developers those officials were voting on.

It started with a multigenerational rancher named Casey Murph and a European solar company that turned up at his family’s grazing allotment. The question we set out to answer is the one that runs through the whole report: did that company just happen to find Casey Murph, or was he handed to them?

UNWON is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support independent Western journalism, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The Source Material:

The flesh-eating parasite the U.S. wiped out 60 years ago is back across the border, and suddenly everyone has a PhD in parasitology.

This episode of Ranch Beat covers the facts: what New World Screwworm actually is, how it clawed its way back up through Central America and Mexico, steps the USDA is taking to address it, and why some of the loudest voices online are doing real damage with bad information.

Dr. Brazil, a large animal veterinarian of almost 40 years, walks ranchers through exactly what to watch for, how to treat it, and what really happens when APHIS shows up at the gate.

And they end where these stories always should: not with the grandstanders, but with the rancher who caught that very first case by paying close enough attention to a newborn calf. The quiet, daily care that the people who actually do this work never stop giving.

Show Notes

Sponsored by Ranch Vision: www.ranchvision.ioSpecial thanks to Josh Woolwine for creating our intro. Follow Josh at www.instagram.com/hjwoolwine.

UNWON is reader-supported. To support independent journalism for the American West, become a subscriber.