Cattle
Grass Tetany Drops a Heavy-Milking Cow on Lush Green Grass, and She’s Down Before You Read the Signs
Low blood magnesium hits older cows nursing calves hardest, right when the grass looks its best. Here's how to spot it early…
Calves, Cattle, Farming, Livestock Fencing
Summer Pneumonia Slips Into Nursing Calves on Grass, and You Won’t See It Until One Stands Off Alone
Pneumonia isn't just a fall weaning problem. It hits unweaned calves on summer pasture, and the ones you notice are usually the…
Montana Ranching
Lightning Drops a Bunch of Cows Under the Lone Tree in a June Storm, and You Find Them the Next Morning
Summer thunderstorms kill cattle in bunches, usually against a wire fence or under the only tree in the pasture. Here's how it…
Water & Irrigation
Blue-Green Algae Blooms the Stock Pond in a Hot, Still June, and a Cow Can Drink It and Be Dead by Dark
Cyanobacteria in warm, calm stock ponds can kill cattle within hours of drinking. Here's how to spot the risk, when the danger…
Hay & Feed
Bale Your First Cutting Too Green and the Stack Heats Until It Cooks—or Catches Fire
Wet hay doesn't just mold. Bales put up above safe moisture can heat past 150 degrees, lose feed value, and in a…
Montana Ranching
A Rattlesnake Bites a Cow on the Nose in June, and the Swelling Is What Kills Her
Prairie rattlers come off the dens and spread across summer range by mid-June. A bite on the muzzle rarely poisons a cow…
Horses
Vaccinate the Saddle Horses for West Nile Before the Mosquitoes Own the Bottoms
Mosquito-borne encephalitis and West Nile virus show up in Montana horses every summer, and the horses that survive it are rarely the…
Cattle
Trich Rides In on an Untested Bull and Empties Half Your Calf Crop Before You Know It
Bovine trichomoniasis spreads at breeding and shows up as open cows and a strung-out calf crop next spring. A little planning before…
Hay & Feed
Foxtail Barley Takes the Wet Spots in June, and the Awns It Buries in Your Hay Fester in a Cow’s Mouth All Winter
Those silvery seedheads coming on in the low ground and the field edges aren't harmless. Foxtail barley awns work into gums, cheeks…
Water & Irrigation
Salty Water and High Sulfates in a Dry Summer Can Poison Cattle Before You Ever See Them Drink It
When ponds shrink and shallow wells go bad in a dry summer, dissolved salts and sulfates concentrate fast — enough to knock…
Land & Grazing
Grasshoppers Hatch on the South Slopes in June, and You Kill Them Cheap Now or Feed Them Your Grass All Summer
Grasshoppers are easiest and cheapest to stop while they're still wingless nymphs clustered on warm ground. Wait until they get wings and…
Cattle
Work Your Cattle at Daybreak in July, Because Heat Builds in the Herd Hours Before It Peaks on the Thermometer
Cattle carry heat load for hours after the sun climbs, and the worst time to gather is the middle of a still,…
Cattle
Bloat Kills a Cow on Lush Green Pasture Faster Than You Can Get the Truck Started
Frothy bloat hits cattle hard when they hit legume-heavy pasture in early summer, and a cow can go from grazing to dead…
Cattle
Anaplasmosis Turns Your Best Cows Pale and Mean, and the Bug That Carried It Left Weeks Ago
Anaplasmosis rides in on ticks, biting flies, and dirty needles, then hides for weeks before it drops your mature cows. June is…
Land & Grazing
Water Hemlock Grows Right Where Your Cattle Drink, and One Root Will Kill a Cow in an Hour
Water hemlock hides in the wet bottoms and ditch banks where cattle water in early summer, and the roots carry enough toxin…
Cattle
Foot Rot Shows Up Lame in the Wet Spots, and a Cow Down on Three Legs Won’t Fix Herself
Foot rot moves fast on soft June ground, and the cow that was sound at turnout can be three-legged lame by the…
Water & Irrigation
Get the Water on the Meadow Before the Creek Drops, Because August Won’t Give It Back
Early-summer runoff is the water you actually get to use. Move it onto the hay ground and pasture now, because the ditch…
Montana Ranching
A Modified-Live Vaccine Cooks in the Sun Between Branding Runs, and You’ll Never Know Until Fall
Vaccine you paid good money for quits working long before the label date if it rides on the dash or sits mixed…
Cattle
The Mineral Tub Runs Dry in June, and the Cows Pay for It at Breeding
Summer grass looks like it has everything a cow needs, but Montana range runs short on the minerals that drive conception and…
Land & Grazing
Larkspur Kills the Best Cows on Summer Range, and the Danger Peaks Right When the Purple Comes On
Tall larkspur takes healthy cows on foothill and mountain pasture every summer, usually with no warning. Knowing when the plant is most…
Cattle
Your First-Calf Heifers Come Up Open First, and June Is When You Save Them or Lose Them
Two-year-olds nursing their first calf carry the heaviest load in the herd, and they're the cows most likely to be open at…
Montana Ranching
A Hurt Bull Quits in June, and the First Sign Is a Bunch of Cows Cycling Back
Turning bulls out isn't the end of breeding season—it's the start of the part where a lame or wrecked bull can cost…
Montana Ranching
Horn Flies Bleed Weight Off Your Cows All Summer, and You Stop Noticing Them by July
Horn flies cluster on the backs and bellies of grazing cattle, feeding on blood dozens of times a day. Get control going…
Horses
Keep the Saddle String Sound Through Summer, Because a Lame Horse in July Grounds the Whole Crew
Summer work is hard on ranch horses, and the wrecks that sideline them—sore backs, cracked feet, tying-up, dehydration—build up quietly. A little…
Cattle
Pinkeye Blinds a Calf on Summer Grass, and Face Flies and Tall Seedheads Do Most of the Work
Pinkeye shows up on Montana grass by midsummer, driven by face flies, dust, and cheatgrass awns. Here's how to knock down the…