A Fresh New Start for an Old Cowboy

Where We Call Home.

Enchanting and invaluable, nature spreads over the gentle hills of Kuromatsunai in Hokkaido.

Raising beef cattle here with minimum impact on the environment is this man from the US.

Seventy-one-year-old Tim Jones.

Born and raised in Texas, he's a genuine cowboy.

He uses no agrochemicals and feeds his cows with only the plants that grow naturally.

For thousands of years, nature just got along just fine without human input.

And we think we can try to mimic that, and we can restore the soil health.

This summer, Tim is ready to sell beef he produced in Japan for the first time.

But he's having difficulty finding takers.

Let's follow this old cattleman who works hard to make the farm he envisioned a reality in the summer of his seventy-first year.

The town of Kuromatsunai is located in southwestern Hokkaido.

In this northern region of Japan where beech trees grow, the locals put effort into preserving the delicate and precious ecosystem.

Gather up!

They need one Japanese word: "oide."

Tim began farming in the region two years ago.

His cattle ranch is a bit different.

The cows spend their days freely among the wild greenery.

No need to come back to the barn at night.

Things that all the other farmers call weeds are really nutritious plants that animals do really well on, and they thrive.

So, there's no reason to spray these fields with chemicals and kill this.

Tim's farm is eighty-one hectares.

Pretty much all the land we see here is part of it.

As this was abandoned farmland until a few years ago, it's home to broadly diversified vegetation.

Tim divided the area in small sections, each containing a day's worth of plants for his animals to feed.

He moves the cows to a different section every day.

The cows eat the plants that grow naturally and vegetables in winter.

Tim never gives them any grain-based feed.

Most of that grass-finished beef is finished on a monoculture, where the animal is only fed one type of grass.

For the next six months, you eat nothing but spinach.

You cannot get all the nutrition you need out of spinach.

Same thing with the cows: when we give them a diverse diet, then they can eat all this stuff, and they can be more nutritious and better flavored and happier cows.

Love that sound.

It's a happy sound.

Tim's partner on the farm and in life is his wife Chie.

The two of them alone take care of some thirty Angus and Japanese brown cows - breeds that are suited to pasturing.

Tim used to teach social studies at a high school in Texas.

He and Chie first met back in 2003 when he visited Japan on a teacher exchange program.

I don't recall when,
but he said he was a cowboy.

But I thought he was joking at first.

I thought because he's from Texas,
he thought it'd be a funny joke.

However, Tim wasn't joking.

In addition to teaching, he had been working on his father's cattle ranch in Oklahoma.

When I was a young man, there were fewer than one thousand people in my town.

So, that's how I got involved in agriculture.

It's the fact that that's the road I was on, and I knew how to drive.

Later when Chie visited Texas, the two hit it off.

Tim mustered up the courage to propose, and they got hitched.

After Tim retired from teaching, he and Chie ran the family farm.

However, in 2018, Tim's father passed away.

After much discussion, Tim and his siblings made the tough decision to split the inheritance by parting with the farm.

Chie and I decided that we wanted to move to Japan, because Chie's family's here.

Since 2003, I've been coming to Japan several times a year, and I love the country as well.

And... but it was also our choice to stay in the cattle business.

Tim was sixty-eight.

He and Chie searched around Japan for land that was just right for the kind of farming they wanted to do.

But starting over in a faraway country proved much more stressful than Tim had expected.

He began to have chest pains.

It was his heart.
He had angina.

Worried for Tim's health, the couple were ready to give up their dream when fate brought them to Kuromatsunai.

Abundant water resources and a diverse ecosystem made the region ideal for pasture farming.

Kuromatsunai has a reputation for loving nature.

The town loved and went to great lengths to protect the nature here.

So, we were made to feel at home.

In 2020, they moved into town and set up their farm.

They named it "Gladney Farm" after the cattle ranch Tim's father had run for so many years.

Tim and Chie visit some people who've supported them ever since they arrived in town.

I was never a tofu fan in the United States, but I love Miura's tofu.

Delicious.

Using organically-grown soybeans to make tofu that produces no waste pulp are husband-and-wife Miura Yoko and Yoshinari.

They too moved here, drawn to the area for the community's love of nature.

When Tim first arrived, they proactively talked to him and offered advice when he started his farm.

He seems modest, but he's a pro.

I could tell he was
serious about farming.

His age doesn't bother him.

The old American cowboy draws the attention of researchers from all over Japan.

They see in Tim's method of using cows to revive farmland a solution to the global food crisis.

One of them is Professor Uchida Yoshitaka.

Tim wants to make use of Uchida's expertise on soil to better partition his land and move his cattle.

Did you see lots of them this time of year last year?

- I think it's orchard.
- I think so, enough.

Maybe instead of moving once a day, maybe we should move twice a day.

Ah, OK, OK. Yeah.

- To try to...
- Yeah, try to...

...stay ahead of the maturity.

This way of letting cows
roam on unused land so that...

it becomes fertile to grow produce
is very appealing.

Without chemical fertilizers,
we risk running out of food...

if we're not careful.
On that, Tim and I feel the same way.

Now in the summer of his second year since he started the farm, Tim is facing a new challenge.

For the first time, he's ready to sell beef he's raised in Japan.

Two bulls who reached maturity will be sent to be slaughtered between the age of 24 to 30 months so Tim can sell their meat.

However, he's having difficulty convincing local businesses and restaurants to make a purchase.

The main reason is in the kind of meat he offers.

In Japan, the land of "wagyu," grain-fed beef that's high in fat content is the golden standard.

Tim's grass-fed beef on the other hand is leaner and tougher.

Informing the consumer with what we have, and...

that's probably the most difficult part.

In Oklahoma, it was not grass-fed, it would be finished as a grain-finished product.

This is our first time to do grass-finished.

Some helpers have come to lend a hand: Katherine, Tim's daughter from his previous marriage, and her children.

They now live on a US military base in Japan, but plan to move here to one day take over the farm.

When your father said that he was going to do farmland in Japan, what was your reaction?

I loved it. I loved it.

I mean I grew up on our farm in Oklahoma.

It's... I couldn't ask for a more perfect place to start looking at raising my kids once I retire, and...

For Katherine who lost her mother to illness while she was still a child, the family farm was a major part of her life growing up.

Basically, I took care of Katherine.

And so, every day after school or whatever, Katherine would go to the farm with me.

I think she probably would've been having more fun with her friends.

I don't understand why, but she's here!

She stuck with it.

That's the history of our love for cows, and...

It's probably not so much a love for cows, but it's a love for the land.

Raised on the ranch, the cows are destined to become meat.

So, it's in honor and respect for the animals that everyone in Tim's family insists that none of the beef must go to waste.

My dream in the future is to keep this farm going for a lot of years.

So, all of the cows that we have will stay in our hearts and be remembered so we will always honor them.

And we will always honor them so very much.

July.

One of the two cows turned 24 months old.

Although he still hasn't found any buyers, Tim made up his mind and had the animal slaughtered.

He thought of promoting the beef's appeal first.

For this one animal, the idea of selling directly to local customers here in Kuromatsunai is much more appealing to us.

We want them to be able to see our faces.

They can feel comfortable that they're buying a product that they can trust.

He wants the people of Kuromatsunai to discover the flavorful taste of his leaner, grass-fed beef.

Tim and Chie pay a visit to a popular soba noodle restaurant nearby.

- Hi!
- Hi!

A beef delivery's here!

I can have all of this? Wow!

He asked them to think of recipes that will showcase his beef.

Fresh ground hamburger.

He's also enlisted the aid of other eateries to create a small cookbook he can he can hand out to customers who’ll buy the meat.

Thank you so much!

In the beginning, they were uncomfortable because of the language barrier.

But now, everybody's friendly and accepting.

I want to be able to offer something, have contributions to the community.

A month later.

Time for a taste test at the soba restaurant.

The Miuras of the tofu shop also take part in the event.

The guests will try soba noodles with grated yam potato and ground beef.

Not overcooking the meat is key.

Here you are!

They'll sample two versions of the dish: hot and cold.

First, the hot noodles.

So, do I mix this together?

So, this foam that's on the top, is this whipped cream?

No, no, no. Yam potato.

I see! Wow!

It's delicious.

My new favorite.

And then, the cold.

It's delicious.

Both are tasty.

With warm noodles
the meat might sink to the bottom.

Yes.

Cold noodles are better.

The tasters are unanimous, cold noodles help highlight the meat better.

So, cold it is!

The restaurant will add this new recipe as a special item on their menu.

September.

Beef has started to go on sale at the ranch.

The recipe booklet regroups a total of seventeen dishes that take advantage of the flavor and chewier texture of Tim's grass-fed meat.

It didn't take too long for the first customers to arrive.

Here you are.

This couple was visiting nearby Hakodate.

- A new farm!
- Wow!

We saw the sign.

We passed it then thought, 'Beef?'
So, we came back.

I think you're always nervous on...

when you're starting something new to know if it's going to be successful or not.

What would be the most important thing: an open mind.

And, don't expect things that... don't expect things that just can't happen.

And, on the fourth day...

I ate some yesterday.
It was wonderful.

I came to buy some more.

I'd never had such delicious beef.

The beef is earning recognition.

Tim and Chie regain confidence that their decision to set up a cattle ranch here was the right one.

As he neared the seventy-year milestone of his life, Tim put down roots in this land where he found joy in nature,

the kindness of the locals, and his beloved bovines.

Enjoy.

I love the sound of the animals eating the fresh grass.

It makes me happy every time I hear it.

Making slow but steady progress, Tim the old cowboy isn't going to be riding off into the sunset anytime soon.

I'm Son from Vietnam.
I work as a carpenter in Osaka.

I work hard to help build
beautiful houses.

7:30 a.m.
work starts.

Today, Son and his team
work on a commercial building.

We'll work on the ceiling.

The framework is both to support
the ceiling boards...

and to strengthen
the building's structure.

Here's OK?

Let's start here.

Son and his Japanese junior
get to work.

Millimeter errors add up
and can become a centimeter.

He makes sure to accurately
internalize the plans.

They have to complete this
144㎡ ceiling within five days.

Let's speed it up!

They build the framework then put
insulation and panels to make the ceiling.

Wishing to learn the skills to start
his own business in Vietnam...

Son came to Japan in 2019　
as a Technical Trainee.

I was surprised.

It's a different culture.

My seniors were quite strict.

I had to learn by observing.

I learned by watching and
working with my seniors.

Now in his third year, Son
takes charge of various jobs.

This is our company president,
Matsubara-san.

When I first met him...

I was a bit intimidated.

He's taught me so much.

When I didn't know what to do,
he offered advice.

I'm so thankful.

With the language barrier,
it was hard at first.

But because of that,
Son listened more attentively.

So, he learned quickly.

He learned by doing.

He absorbed the skills
through hands-on work.

He put a lot of effort in it.

He was eager to learn Japanese
and his work quickly.

He made much progress in three years.

I want to keep progressing.

When he speaks to other Japanese staff,
I listen to them to learn Japanese.

The Technical Trainee program
is to learn skills in Japan.

So now, he has to decide how he'll
make use of what he's learned in Japan.

I didn't seem him
as a simple temporary worker.

He wants to use what he's learned
to start a business in Vietnam.

I feel grateful that he came
to work with us.

So, I wish him success
in his work in Vietnam, too.

I'll do my best.

This is my treasure.

In my 2nd year, I took a national test
to assess my skill level.

In one hour, Son had to build
a project following a plan.

I had to align this perfectly.

It was hard.

If I'd failed, I wouldn't've been
able to stay with the company.

I'd go back to Vietnam.

Son passed the test and could
extend his stay for two more years.

I was so happy.

I want to keep improving.

I still have a lot to learn.

I want to keep growing as a carpenter.

I'll be as skilled and experienced
as Matsubara-san.