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Land & Grazing
Water Hemlock Comes Up in the Wet Ditch Bottoms in June, and the Root a Cow Pulls From Soft Mud Drops Her Before She Clears the Water
Water hemlock is the most violently poisonous plant on Montana range, and the danger sits in the root cattle dig out of…
Cattle
The Bull You Turn Out and Never Check Quits Sometime in the First Cycle, and the Cows Standing to Ride Again in July Are the Only Sign He Left
A bull can pass a breeding soundness exam in May and still stop settling cows by the Fourth of July. Riding through…
Montana Ranching
The Cattle You Work at Noon in July Pant and Bunch and Won’t Move, and the Two Hours After Sunup Are the Only Cool You’ll Get
Summer heat stress is easy to miss until a bunch balls up in the corner of a corral and won't take pressure.…
Cattle
The Vaccine That Cooks on the Tailgate Never Worked, and the Cold Chain You Ignore at Branding Costs You a Whole Bunch’s Immunity
Modified-live vaccines are fragile biology, not fence staples. How you mix, cool, and handle them in a June chute decides whether the…
Land & Grazing
The Grasshoppers You Ignore on the Field Margin in June Eat Your Range by August, and the Nymphs You Hit Early Are the Cheap Ones to Kill
Grasshoppers hatch on the edges of Montana rangeland in early summer, and the window to treat them cheaply is short. Here's how…
Cattle
Frothy Bloat Kills a Cow on Lush Legume Pasture Before Breakfast, and the Half Hour You Watch After Turnout Is the One That Saves Her
Bloat comes fast on wet clover and alfalfa in June, and the cow you find dead at daylight was fine at dark.…
Cattle Markets
The Cull Cow You Haul In With the Fall Run Brings Less Than the One You Sort Off in June
Culls you find at branding are worth more in early summer than they will be in the October crush. Sorting and marketing…
Land & Grazing
The Grass Comes On All at Once in June and the Cows Can’t Keep Up, and the Reel of Poly Wire You String Now Buys You Green Feed in August
June grass grows faster than a set of pairs can graze it. A little temporary electric fence, moved on a schedule, turns…
Cattle
Breed the Heifers Ahead of the Cows in June, and the Three-Week Head Start You Give Them Now Is the One That Keeps Them in the Herd for Years
Replacement heifers that calve first and rebreed early stay in the herd. The way you set up their breeding in June decides…
Cattle
Foot Rot Flares in the Muddy Corners of a Wet June, and the Lame Cow You Catch Early Beats the One You Rope in the Brush a Week Later
Wet ground around tanks and gates sets cattle up for foot rot in June. Here's how to spot it early, treat it…
Montana Ranching
The Stock Dam You Trusted All Spring Turns Alkali in a Dry June, and the Sulfate Your Cows Drink Blinds Calves Before It Ever Shows on a Test
As prairie ponds evaporate in the first hot, dry stretch of summer, sulfate concentrates fast — and high-sulfate stock water can cut…
Cattle
The Two-Year-Old Bull You Turned Out on Sixty Cows Runs Out of Steam by the Second Cycle, and the Ratio You Set in June Writes Next Year’s Calving Book
Bull power isn't about how mean he looks in the pasture. A breeding soundness exam and an honest cow-to-bull ratio decide how…