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…
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…