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…
Cattle
The Two-Year-Old Is the Cow Most Likely to Come Up Open
First-calf heifers have to grow, milk, and rebreed all at once, and they lose that fight quietly. Here's how to keep your…
Cattle
Fly Tags Work Better If You Wait: Timing Horn Fly Control So It Lasts Into August
Horn flies cost you pounds all summer, but hanging tags too early burns them out before the worst of the season. Here's…
Cattle
Pinkeye Blows Up Fast Once the Flies and Cheatgrass Get Going
Pinkeye costs you weaning weight and calves you can't sell right, and it moves through a herd faster than most people expect.…
Cattle
A Bull That Doesn’t Test Is a Guess You Can’t Afford
A breeding soundness exam catches the shooter bull, the foot problem, and the low-fertility two-year-old before he spends a whole season not…
Cattle
Implant the Steer Calves at Turnout: Cheap Pounds You Leave on the Table
Growth implants are one of the lowest-cost tools in the calf business, but plenty of Montana producers skip them or place them…
Land & Grazing
Split the Big Pasture With One Hot Wire: Temporary Fence for Summer Grazing
A single strand of poly wire and a few step-in posts can turn a season-long pasture into two or three grazing periods.…
Cattle
Worm Your Cows Before the Grass Does the Damage: Strategic Deworming on Summer Range
Internal parasites quietly cost you pounds and open cows all summer. Here's how to time a deworming that actually works, and why…
Montana Ranching
Your Stock Dog Overheats Before You Do: Keeping the Help Working Through a Montana Summer
A good cow dog will run itself into the ground trying to please you. In June and July heat, that loyalty can…
Land & Grazing
Spray the Weeds While They’re Still Green: June Is the Window on Spotted Knapweed and Leafy Spurge
Noxious weeds on Montana rangeland are easiest to kill before they set seed. Here's how to time June herbicide work and biocontrol…
Land & Grazing
Cattle Camp the Creek: Getting Them to Graze the Whole Pasture
Cows will hammer the bottoms and coulees while the ridges and back corners go untouched. A little planning with salt, water, and…