Hay & Feed
Nitrate Poisoning in Drought-Stressed Forage: The Risk Building in Your Cereal Hay
When oats, barley, and cane crops grow under drought stress, nitrate can stack up in the lower stems and kill cattle fast.…
Land & Grazing
Grasshoppers Are Hatching: Catch Them Young or Watch Your Range Disappear
In a dry Montana summer, grasshoppers can eat as much grass as your cows. The window to do something about it is…
Hay & Feed
Wet Hay Heats Up: How First-Cutting Bales Catch Fire in the Stack
Baling first-cutting hay a little too damp can cook your stack from the inside out — and start a fire weeks after…
Cattle
Heat Stress in Montana Cattle: Reading the Warning Signs Before You Lose Gain
Montana summers can turn hot fast, and cattle feel it before you do. Here's how to spot heat stress early and ease…
Cattle
Pasture Bloat on Lush Legumes: The June Killer That Hits Your Best Pasture
Turning cattle onto green alfalfa or clover when grass is rank and wet can kill an animal before noon. Here's how frothy…
Cattle
Summer Pneumonia in Nursing Calves: The Sickness That Hides in a Healthy-Looking Herd
Pneumonia in calves still on the cow catches a lot of Montana producers off guard in midsummer. Here's what triggers it and…
Cattle
Foot Rot in Summer Pastures: Catch the Limp Early or Pay for It Later
Foot rot shows up every summer in Montana, usually in wet corners and around water. Here's how to spot it early, treat…
Land & Grazing
Make June Grass Work for You: Pasture Rotation When Growth Peaks
Cool-season grass on Montana range hits its hardest growth in June, and how you move cattle through it now sets up the…
Cattle
Anaplasmosis: The Summer Cattle Disease Montana Ranchers Forget About Until a Cow Dies
As flies and ticks ramp up across Montana, anaplasmosis quietly works through mature cattle. Here's how the disease moves, what to watch…
Cattle
Summer Mineral on Grass: Don’t Let the Tub Run Dry When It Matters Most
Free-choice mineral isn't a set-it-and-forget-it chore. Here's how to keep your cows getting what summer grass can't give them through breeding and…
Land & Grazing
Larkspur Season Is Here: Keeping Cattle Alive on Montana’s High Country
Tall larkspur kills more cattle on Montana mountain range than most ranchers want to admit. Here's how to time your grazing and…
Hay & Feed
First-Cutting Hay: Cut at the Right Stage, Then Beat the Weather
Putting up good first-cutting hay in Montana comes down to two fights — cutting at the right maturity and getting it dry…
Cattle
Bull Turnout Done Right: Getting the Breeding Season to Pay Off in Montana
Mid-June is breeding season on most Montana ranches. A little attention to bull soundness, cow-to-bull ratios, and pasture observation now decides what…
Water & Irrigation
Summer Stock Water: Keep the Tanks Full and the Algae Out Before It Bites You
As Montana heats up, water becomes the limiting factor on most summer pasture. Here's how to keep cattle drinking clean, stay ahead…
Cattle
Pinkeye and Flies: Getting Ahead of the Summer Eye Problem
Pinkeye costs Montana cattle producers weight gain, dollars, and time every summer. Here's how to cut the fly pressure, irritants, and infection…
Ranching
Cattle Futures Firm While Cash Trade Waits: What Montana Ranchers Should Read Into It
Live and feeder cattle futures moved higher this week, with market watchers largely waiting on broader negotiated cash cattle trade to show…
Farming
USDA Sees Bigger Wheat Supplies; Montana Growers and Cattlemen Should Brace for Price Headwinds
USDA’s latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) update is getting plenty of attention in grain country, and for Montana it’s…
Ranching
Cattle Futures Firm While Corn Slips: What the Board Signals for Montana Feed and Calf Prices
Grain and livestock futures ended mixed Thursday, April 9, with cattle contracts pushing higher while corn and wheat drifted lower. Reports indicate…
Farming
Soybeans inch higher as crude oil firms; what it could mean for Montana feed and fuel costs
Soybean futures posted a modest gain recently, with market watchers pointing to short covering, technical buying, and renewed strength in crude oil.…
Farming
Montana Grain Marketing: When the War Premium Fades, 2026 Pricing Gets Real
Montana producers don’t need a reminder that grain markets can move on headlines as fast as they move on rain. But the…
Farming
Drought Weed Pressure Is Building in Montana: Timing Residuals, Grazing, and Hay Ground Decisions
Dry springs and tight soil moisture have a way of reshuffling the weed deck in Montana. In some years, drought can slow…
News
Montana Spring Fieldwork Outlook: Warmer Signal, Precipitation Still a Question
Reports from ag meteorologists in the central U.S. are pointing to a spring pattern that leans warmer into late spring and early…
News
Montana Drought Tracking: How Ranchers Can Put Local Conditions on the Map
Dry years in Montana rarely show up evenly. One operation in the Bitterroot Valley can be watching grass stall out while a…
News
Montana drought reports: how ranchers can put on-the-ground conditions on the map
Dry spells don’t hit Montana evenly. One week the Hi-Line is watching wheat and range grass stall out, while parts of the…
Farming
War Jitters, Mixed Grain Trade: What Montana Producers Should Watch as Spring Decisions Near
Reports from national market analysts indicate overnight grain trading has been choppy, with corn and soybeans moving in different directions as global…