Hay & Feed
Cut the First Cutting at Early Bloom, or You’re Trading Protein for Tonnage You Don’t Need
Waiting on the alfalfa to bulk up feels like the smart play, but every day past early bloom pulls protein and energy…
Land & Grazing
Scout Grasshoppers Now, Because by the Time They Strip the Range It’s Too Late to Spray
Grasshoppers do their worst damage as small nymphs in June, but most ranchers don't notice until the adults are flying and the…
Cattle
Heat Stress Hits Cattle Before the Thermometer Scares You, and the Damage Happens Overnight
Montana cattle handle dry heat well until a humid stretch and warm nights stack up. Here's how heat load builds, what it…
Montana Ranching
Frothy Bloat Blows Up Fast on Lush June Pasture, and the Cow You Find Dead Was Fine at Breakfast
Legume-heavy pasture and fast-growing irrigated grass can set cattle up for frothy bloat in June. Here's how it kills so quickly and…
Cattle
Anaplasmosis Rides In on Ticks and Flies in Summer, and It Takes the Old Cows First
Anaplasmosis quietly builds in a Montana herd through the vector season, and the first sign is often a good, aged cow off…
Montana Ranching
High-Sulfate Stock Water Sneaks Up in a Dry Summer, and It Can Put Cattle Down Blind and Staggering
As ponds and reservoirs shrink through July, dissolved sulfates and salts concentrate in the water your cows have to drink. It's an…
Cattle
Foot Rot Sets Up in the Muddy Corners of Summer Range, and a Lame Cow Won’t Travel to Feed
Wet ground around gates, water and salt sets cattle up for foot rot in early summer. Catch the limp early, because a…
Land & Grazing
Set Your Destocking Triggers in June, Not the Day the Grass Runs Out
Deciding when and what to sell before summer turns dry keeps you in control of the market instead of the other way…
Land & Grazing
Trail the Pairs Slow to Summer Range, or You’ll Spend a Week Sorting Mismothered Calves
Moving cow-calf pairs to summer pasture in June is where calves get separated, stressed, and sick. A little patience on the trail…
Montana Ranching
An Empty Mineral Feeder in June Costs You Breed-Back You Won’t Notice Until Preg-Check
Summer grass looks like all a cow needs, but it runs short on the minerals that drive conception and immune function. Keeping…
Land & Grazing
Larkspur Greens Up on the Foothill Range Right When You Turn Out, and It Kills the Good Cows Standing Up
Tall larkspur is one of the deadliest plants on Montana mountain range, and early summer is when it's most dangerous. Here's how…
Montana Ranching
Breed the Heifers a Little Early, and Keep Them Gaining Right Through It
Replacement heifers set the tone for your whole calving season. Get them to breeding weight, turn the bull in ahead of the…
Cattle
A Bull That Quits in the Middle of Breeding Season Can Leave a Third of Your Cows Open
You turned the bulls out and the branding's done, but a bull that goes lame or gets whipped in the first three…
Water & Irrigation
Get Water Across the Hay Meadow While the Creek Still Runs High, Because July Comes Fast
Mountain runoff peaks and drops fast in a Montana June. Spreading flood water evenly across a wild-hay meadow now decides how much…
Cattle
Horn Flies Are Bleeding Weight Off Your Cows Right Now, and You Won’t See It on the Scale Until Fall
By mid-June the horn fly numbers climb fast on summer pasture. Here's how to knock them back before they cost you pounds…
Cattle
Pinkeye Runs Through a Summer Herd Fast, and the Calf That Goes Blind Never Catches Up
Pinkeye costs Montana producers weaning weight and doctoring time every summer. Here's how to catch it early, slow the spread, and keep…
Horses
The Idle Branding Horse Founders on Lush June Grass While Nobody’s Watching Him
Once the branding runs are over, the good ranch geldings go out on green grass and stand around getting fat. That's exactly…
Calves, Cattle, Farming, Livestock Fencing
Ride the Boundary Fence Before the Cattle Find the Hole—and Your Neighbor Does First
Winter snowload, elk, and spring runoff leave gaps in the summer fence that cattle find fast. A few days of riding wire…
Water & Irrigation
Walk Your Summer Water Lines Now, Before a Stuck Float Empties the Tank on a 95-Degree Day
Stock water fails on the worst possible afternoon. A June check of tanks, floats, pipelines and solar pumps is cheaper than hauling…
Land & Grazing
Spray Leafy Spurge and Knapweed at the Right Growth Stage, or You’re Just Burning Diesel
Noxious weeds hit their most vulnerable window in June and early July. Hit spurge and knapweed at flowering with the right chemical…
Cattle
A June Thunderhead Builds in an Hour, and a Whole Bunch of Cattle Under One Tree Can Die at Once
Summer lightning kills more range cattle than most producers expect, and the losses come in bunches. Here's what raises the odds and…
Cattle
Grass Tetany Still Bites in a Cool, Wet June, and It Takes the Best Cows First
A lush, late-growing spring keeps magnesium short in the grass just as older cows are milking hard. Here's how tetany shows up,…
Hay & Feed
Drought-Stressed Oats and Kochia Load Up on Nitrate, and a Hungry Cow Pays for It Fast
When a dry spring stunts your annual forage, nitrate can build to dangerous levels in the stems. Here's how to spot the…
Land & Grazing
Cattle Pound the Creek Bottom While the Ridge Grass Goes to Waste—Here’s How to Spread Them Out
On big summer country, cattle bunch in the bottoms and leave half the pasture standing. Salt placement, water, and a little riding…
Farm Equipment
Go Through the Haying Equipment Now, Because a Broken-Down Swather in a Weather Window Costs You the Cutting
First cutting waits on nobody. A weekend spent servicing the swather, baler, and rake before you drop the sickle keeps a good…