Stock water systems fail in the heat when cattle need them most. Walk the pipelines, pumps, and float valves now, while a…
Spring runoff pulls out water gaps and drops wire while your cattle are already on grass. Mid-June is the window to walk…
Cool-season grass on Montana range does most of its growing in a short window, and cattle left to graze it flat in…
Mid-June is the window to hit spotted knapweed and leafy spurge while they're actively growing. Wait until they've set seed and you're…
Clostridial diseases like blackleg live in the soil and take the fastest-growing calves on summer pasture with no warning. A cheap two-shot…
Alfalfa weevil larvae skeletonize the top leaves of a stand right before first cutting, and the damage looks like frost from the…
Most haying-season fires don't start with lightning. They start with a hot bearing, a chaff-packed engine, or a rock and a sickle…
On big summer country, cattle overuse the creek bottoms and swales while good grass on the ridges and back corners never gets…
The cows you already know are leaving—bad udders, bad feet, wrecked mouths—don't need to eat your grass until October. Sorting culls in…
Internal parasites quietly siphon gain off cattle grazing summer grass, and young stock pay the steepest price. A little planning in June…
Hay put up a few points too green keeps working after it leaves the field. Learn to read moisture, stack for airflow,…
When the wind lays down and the water warms up, cyanobacteria can scum over a reliable dugout and kill cattle within hours.…
Rangeland fire season builds through late June in Montana. A little work now—firebreaks, ready equipment, and a plan to move cattle—buys you…
Respiratory disease isn't just a feedlot problem. Nursing calves on summer range get pneumonia too, and the ones that survive it come…
A breeding season with no end date scatters your calves across four months and quietly costs you money at every marketing. Setting…
Waiting on the alfalfa to bulk up feels like the smart play, but every day past early bloom pulls protein and energy…
Grasshoppers do their worst damage as small nymphs in June, but most ranchers don't notice until the adults are flying and the…
Montana cattle handle dry heat well until a humid stretch and warm nights stack up. Here's how heat load builds, what it…
Legume-heavy pasture and fast-growing irrigated grass can set cattle up for frothy bloat in June. Here's how it kills so quickly and…
Anaplasmosis quietly builds in a Montana herd through the vector season, and the first sign is often a good, aged cow off…
As ponds and reservoirs shrink through July, dissolved sulfates and salts concentrate in the water your cows have to drink. It's an…
Wet ground around gates, water and salt sets cattle up for foot rot in early summer. Catch the limp early, because a…
Deciding when and what to sell before summer turns dry keeps you in control of the market instead of the other way…
Moving cow-calf pairs to summer pasture in June is where calves get separated, stressed, and sick. A little patience on the trail…
Summer grass looks like all a cow needs, but it runs short on the minerals that drive conception and immune function. Keeping…