Meet Sajun Folsom | Rancher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sajun Folsom and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sajun, what makes you happy? Why?
I enjoy nature. I enjoy all of the complex systems that make up this broad term. For me, ranching is this interesting problem solving endeavor where every day I am challenged by some new problem that can be solved in a variety of different ways. For example, if you do a soil test and find you have a nitrogen deficiency, you have many different ways to solve this problem. In industrial agriculture the solution is to add NPK fertilizer. This works very well in the short term but over time you damage the microbial ecosystem that would do this naturally and it will take more and more fertilizer to maintain crop yield. It also becomes an input cost that increasingly cuts into your profit margin as you continue to add more year after year. Alternatively, you can plant legumes like alfalfa and clover and you can use certain grazing techniques and species to improve soil health and cultivate the microbial and fungal population that naturally add nitrogen to the soil. (I use the term naturally to mean the use of biological systems like livestock, microbes, and fungi rather than synthetic additives like NPK fertilizer). With the former method, yields will decrease every year without additional inputs, but in the latter, yields will increase every year and inputs will decrease. This problem is exceedingly complex once you start looking at all of the microbial and fungal ecosystems and how they interact with the plants. It’s much easier to just put down fertilizer, but for me that complexity is what makes natural systems interesting and enjoyable.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our business has been operating for the last 10 years. We have primarily been focussed on raising high quality, grass fed and finished, all natural beef. Recently however, we have started consulting other land owners to transition their properties toward regenerative systems. This is what has been most exciting for me recently. Running any small business is difficult but farming and ranching is particularly difficult. In ranching and farming your business is directly and significantly affected by the weather. We have been in a drought and the cost to feed my herd quadrupled. The price of hay doubled and the length of time we had to feed them doubled. We have overcome these challenges by downsizing the herd, cutting costs, and finding additional sources of revenue. I hope people will begin to visit their local producers and see how much work it takes to create a quality product. I also hope they understand that the price reflects that work, quality, and care going into that product.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We live in a very rural community. We don’t have a single stop light in our entire county. If you are seeking a good time out here you better enjoy the outdoors. We are surrounded by mountains to climb and ski, rivers to fish and raft in, rock climbing havens, and thousands of acres of public land to explore.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The pioneers of the regenerative agriculture revolution are who deserve to be recognized. Locally, Tony and Barclay Daranyi and Anne LeFevre of Indian Ridge Farm, Mike Nolan and Mindy Perkovich at Mountain Roots Produce, my Aunt Mae Folsom, and all of the other great local producers and consumers. Thanks to all of you for your caring nature and your bold approach to giving a damn about food.

Website: laidbackbeef.com

Instagram: laid_back_ranch