Cattle
Foot Rot Shows Up in the Wet Spots: Catching the Limp Before It Costs You Pounds
Foot rot turns up every summer where cattle stand in mud and standing water. Catch the limp early, treat it clean, and…
Cattle
Anaplasmosis Drops Your Older Cows in Late Summer: The Tick-and-Fly Disease That Hides All Year
A carrier cow looks fine until the heat and the flies bring it out, and the cattle it hits hardest are your…
Cattle
Mineral on Summer Grass: The Cheap Insurance Cows Quit Eating in July
Loose mineral keeps cows breeding and calves gaining all summer, but only if they actually eat it. Here's how to get consumption…
Cattle
Green Scum on the Stock Pond Can Kill a Cow by Morning
Blue-green algae blooms turn warm summer stock ponds toxic fast, and cattle that drink the wrong water can be dead before you…
Land & Grazing
Larkspur on the Foothill Pastures: The Plant That Kills Cattle in June
Tall larkspur greens up early on Montana foothill range and is most dangerous right through bud and bloom. Here's how to spot…
Cattle
Your Vaccine Is Only as Good as the Cooler It Rode In: Cold Chain and Clean Technique on Summer Working Days
You can buy the best modified-live product on the shelf and still vaccinate a whole bunch of calves with nothing. Heat, sunlight,…
Cattle
Watch Your Bulls Like Hay: Keeping Bull Power on the Cows All Summer
Turning bulls out in June is the easy part. Keeping enough sound, working bulls on your cows through July is what decides…
Montana Ranching
Horn Flies Are Bleeding Your Cows: Building a Fly Program That Actually Holds Up
Horn flies cost weight gain and spread disease all summer. Here's how to knock them down and keep them down without burning…
Cattle
Pinkeye in June: Stop the Spread Before Half the Calves Are Squinting
Face flies, dust, and tall seedheads make early summer prime time for pinkeye in Montana cattle. Here's how to catch it early…
Cattle
Trich Test Your Bulls Before They Hit the Cows: The Quiet Reason Cows Come Up Open
Trichomoniasis spreads silently through a breeding herd and shows up as open cows in the fall. Here's why testing bulls matters and…
Cattle Markets
Sell the Calves in June for October Delivery: What Video and Forward Contracts Actually Cost You
Summer is when a lot of Montana calves change hands long before they're weaned. Here's how forward contracting and video sales work,…
Land & Grazing
Get Water to the Back Forty: Developing Springs and Solar Wells for Summer Range
A spring box, a buried pipeline, or a solar well can turn dead corners of summer pasture into grazed ground. Here's how…
Land & Grazing
When Grizzlies and Wolves Share Your Summer Range
Predator pressure on Montana summer pasture is real and growing in many areas. Here's how to ride the country smarter, cut your…
Hay & Feed
Do the Hay Math in June, Not in a Panic Come October
First cutting is the time to figure out whether you'll have enough winter feed — because June is when you still have…
Land & Grazing
Spray the Spurge Now: Timing Your Knapweed and Leafy Spurge Hits Before They Set Seed
Spotted knapweed and leafy spurge are at the stage where a well-timed herbicide pass pays for itself. Here's how to read the…
Land & Grazing
Pull Them Off the Creek: Getting Even Grazing on a Big Summer Pasture
Cattle hammer the bottoms and leave the ridges untouched. Here's how to spread them out with salt, water, and a little riding…
Cattle
Move Cattle Like You’ve Got All Day: Low-Stress Handling on Summer Range
Hauling pairs to summer country and pushing them through gates is where a lot of shrink and wrecks start. Slowing down and…
Cattle
The Two-Year-Old That Won’t Breed Back: Keeping Your First-Calf Heifers in the Herd
The young cow that calved last spring is the one most likely to come up open this fall. Here's why she struggles…
Land & Grazing
Set Your Trigger Date Now: Deciding When to Destock Before the Grass Is Gone
Waiting until the pasture is chewed to the dirt to cut cow numbers costs you twice. Here's how to set a drought…
Horses
Keep the Good Horse Sound: Summer Care for the Ranch Geldings You Lean On
June through August is the hardest stretch on a working ranch horse. A little attention to feet, water, and saddle fit now…
Montana Ranching
Worms on Summer Grass: Why Your Yearlings Quit Gaining in July
Internal parasites cost more in lost gain than most Montana producers realize. Here's how to think about deworming timing on calves and…
Water & Irrigation
Get the Water On Before the Call Comes: June Irrigation on Montana Hay Ground
Mid-June is when snowmelt runoff peaks and the river goes on call. Here's how to make your water right earn its keep…
Calves, Cattle, Farming, Livestock Fencing
Walk the Fence Before the Cattle Test It: Summer Fence Repair in Montana
Spring runoff, frost heave, and winter snowload leave gaps in your fence by June. Find them before your cows do and you…
Cattle
Blackleg Strikes Your Biggest Calves: Why the Cheapest Shot You Give Still Earns Its Keep
Clostridial diseases like blackleg kill thriving calves on summer grass with almost no warning. Here's why a low-cost vaccine still belongs on…
Farm Equipment
Don’t Let a $4 Bearing Cost You a Cutting: Keeping Hay Equipment Running
First cutting is no time to be hunting parts in town. A few habits around the swather and baler keep you in…