Land & Grazing
Spray the Knapweed and Spurge at Bloom, Not After It Goes to Seed
Mid-June is prime time to hit Montana's worst pasture weeds while the chemical still moves into the roots. Wait until seed set…
Horses
The Green Grass That Founders Your Best Ranch Horse Comes on in June
Lush spring pasture and a little extra grain put more good using horses out of work with laminitis than any wreck. Here's…
Land & Grazing
Don’t Graze It to the Dirt in June: Leave Enough Leaf to Get a Second Bite
How you handle pastures in the first few weeks after turnout decides how much grass you'll have in August. Grazing too hard,…
Water & Irrigation
High-Sulfate Stock Water Can Blind and Down Cattle by Late Summer
As dugouts and shallow wells drop and concentrate through the summer, sulfate levels climb — and sulfur-induced polio can put good cattle…
Water & Irrigation
Run the Water Line Before the First Heat Wave, Not During It
Stock water fails on the hottest day of the year, not the coolest. Walk your springs, pipelines, and tanks in mid-June while…
Farm Equipment
Blow the Chaff Off the Swather Before It Lights the Field on Fire
Haying equipment starts more range fires than most people think. A little grease, an air hose, and a fire extinguisher on the…
Cattle
Vaccine You Cooked in the Sun Is Just an Expensive Way to Poke Holes
Modified-live vaccine dies fast in heat and sunlight. Handle it wrong at branding or turnout and you've paid for protection you never…
Hay & Feed
Bale It Too Wet and the Stack Cooks Itself From the Inside
Hay that goes in the stack a few points too wet heats, molds, loses feed value, and in a bad year lights…
Livestock
A Rattlesnake Bite to the Nose Is a Breathing Problem Before It’s a Venom Problem
Prairie rattlers come out with the warm weather, and a cow or horse bitten on the muzzle can be in trouble from…
Montana Ranching
Lightning Kills Cattle in Bunches, and June Is When the Storms Start
Summer thunderstorms put cattle at real risk on open range. Here's how lightning kills, why it takes several head at once, and…
Cattle
Summer Pneumonia Sneaks Up on Nursing Calves While Everything Looks Fine
Calves on green grass with mothers still milking hard can still come down with pneumonia in June and July. Here's what sets…
Montana Ranching
Move the Deadstock Before It Draws a Grizzly to the Summer Country
Bears and other predators follow easy food. A dead cow left in the corner of a pasture teaches them where the cattle…
Hay & Feed
Cut It at the Boot, Not When You Get Around to It: Timing First-Cutting Hay
Every day you wait past the boot stage, your grass hay loses protein and gains stem. Here's how to read the crop…
Cattle
Blackleg Drops the Best Calf in the Bunch, and It Does It in Summer
Clostridial diseases like blackleg kill fast-growing calves on lush summer grass, usually before you ever see a sick one. Here's why the…
Land & Grazing
Scout the Grasshoppers Now, While They’re Still Nymphs You Can Kill
Grasshoppers hatch on Montana rangeland in June, and the window to do anything about them closes fast. Here's how to scout, count,…
Cattle
Handle Cattle in the Cool of the Morning: Beating Summer Heat Stress Before It Costs You
Heat builds in cattle all day and doesn't shed until night. Knowing the signs and timing your work around them keeps weight…
Montana Ranching
The Green Scum on the Stock Pond Can Kill a Cow Before You Find Her
Blue-green algae blooms turn a good summer water source into a killer in a day or two. Here's what to watch for…
Cattle
Bloat Kills the Cow That Was Fine an Hour Ago on New Alfalfa
Frothy bloat on lush legume pasture can drop a healthy cow before you finish morning chores. Here's how to turn cattle onto…
Montana Ranching
Foot Rot Shows Up Lame and Swollen After the First Wet Stretch on Summer Grass
Foot rot turns up every June once cattle are walking wet ground and rocky trails. Catch the lame cow early and it's…
Montana Ranching
Sort the Cull Cows Now, Not in October
The cows that won't pay their way through winter show it in June—bad bags, cancer eye, broken mouths, feet gone wrong. Mark…
Cattle
Anaplasmosis Shows Up in the Fall, but You Set It Up in June
The biting flies and ticks working your cows right now spread a blood disease that quietly builds all summer and drops mature…
Montana Ranching
Put the Mineral Where You Want the Cattle Grazing, Not Where It’s Easy to Fill
A summer salt and mineral program does two jobs at once: it covers what the grass is short on, and it pulls…
Cattle
Water Hemlock Is the Plant That Kills in Minutes Along Your Wet Meadows
Larkspur gets the headlines, but water hemlock in your ditches and seeps can drop a cow before you finish morning chores. Here's…
Montana Ranching
Larkspur Kills the Cows That Look the Best on the Foothill Turnout
Tall larkspur greens up early on Montana's foothill range and drops big, healthy cattle without warning. Here's how to read the risk…
Montana Ranching
Turning the Bull Out Isn’t the End of the Job: Watch Him Work
A bull that passed his breeding test in May can still come up lame, sore-footed, or plain lazy by July. Riding through…