Water & Irrigation
Test the Stock Water, Not Just the Grass, When It Turns Dry
In a dry June, the water in your reservoirs and shallow wells concentrates fast. High sulfates and salts can pull cattle off…
Horses
Bring Your Saddle Horse Into Summer Legged-Up, Not Sorry
The long circles of June and July are hard on a horse that spent the winter standing around. A few things done…
Montana Ranching
Keep a Shovel and a Full Tank Behind You: Fire Season Starts in the Hayfield
Most ranch fires in Montana don't start with lightning — they start with hot equipment in dry grass. A little prep in…
Water & Irrigation
Shut the Headgate in Time: Timing Your Last Flood Before First Cutting
On Montana's flood-irrigated hay meadows, the trick isn't turning the water on — it's knowing when to shut it off so the…
Land & Grazing
Leave Grass Behind on Purpose: Stubble Height Sets Next Year’s Feed
Grazing a pasture into the dirt in June costs you regrowth this fall and vigor next spring. Here's how much to leave…
Farm Equipment
Grease It Before It Grinds: Getting Your Hay Equipment Ready Before the First Windrow
A day spent in the shop before first cutting beats a day broke down in the field with a storm building. Here's…
Calves, Cattle, Farming, Livestock Fencing
Ride the Fence Before You Turn Out: Fixing the Wire the Runoff Tore Up
Spring runoff and frost heave wreck more fence than cattle do. Ride it before turnout so you're not chasing pairs down the…
Cattle
Rattlesnake Bites Hit the Nose First: Handling Snakebit Stock on Summer Range
Prairie rattlesnakes get active as the ground warms, and a grazing cow or a curious colt usually takes the strike on the…
Hay & Feed
Bale It Too Wet and It’ll Cook: Watching Moisture on the First Cutting
Hay put up a little green feels like a win in a short weather window, but bales stacked too wet heat, mold,…
Cattle
Grass Tetany Drops the Best Cows First on Lush Green Grass
Hypomagnesemia kills fast on fast-growing cool-season pasture, and it usually takes your heaviest-milking cows. Here's how to spot the risk and keep…
Land & Grazing
Scout Grasshoppers in June, Before They Eat Your Fall Pasture
Grasshoppers do the most damage as small nymphs in early summer. Counting them now and hitting the hatch beds early is cheaper…
Hay & Feed
Cut the First Crop at Bud Stage: Hay That Tests, Not Just Fills the Stack
First cutting is where you make or lose your protein for the year. A few days' delay and the right baling moisture…
Cattle
Heat Stress Sneaks Up in the First Hot Spell: Reading Your Cattle Before They Pile Up
The first 90-degree stretch in June catches cattle that haven't shed off or found the water yet. Here's how to spot heat…
Cattle
Frothy Bloat on Lush June Pasture: The Death You Find Before Breakfast
Legume-heavy spring pasture can blow a cow up tight by morning. Here's how frothy bloat builds, what raises the odds, and the…
Cattle
Summer Pneumonia Hits the Calves You Thought Were Past the Risk
Bronchopneumonia in two- to four-month-old nursing calves shows up in the dog days, often after a cold rain or a long dusty…
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…