Cattle
A Bull Can Pass His Test in April and Quit on You by the Fourth of July
A breeding soundness exam gets your bulls to the pasture gate, but it doesn't keep them working. Riding through the bulls during…
Cattle
Horn Flies Bleed a Cow All Summer, and the Weight Comes Off the Calf You Can’t See Losing It
Horn flies live on the animal and feed on blood dozens of times a day. Left alone through a Montana summer, they…
Water & Irrigation
Check the Windmill, Float, and Pipeline Before You Turn Out to the Far Country
Before the herd hits the summer pastures, the stock water setup deserves a hard look. A stuck float or dry well in…
Cattle
Pinkeye Blinds a Calf on Summer Grass, and Face Flies Carry It Down the Whole Bunch
Mid-June is when pinkeye starts showing up in Montana calves — a weepy eye, a squint, then a white spot in the…
Hay & Feed
Nitrate Builds Up in Drought-Stressed Annual Forage, and a Hungry Cow Can Load a Lethal Dose in One Meal
When cereal hay and green chop grow under drought stress, nitrate concentrates in the lower stems and can kill cattle fast. Here's…
Land & Grazing
Graze Your Native Range Too Hard in June and the Grass Won’t Be There in August
Early summer is when cool-season grasses put on most of their growth. Push cattle across it too hard now and you're borrowing…
Land & Grazing
Leafy Spurge Yellows the Hillsides in June, and the Window to Set It Back Is Shorter Than You Think
Leafy spurge and spotted knapweed take rangeland one patch at a time. Mid-June, when the spurge flushes yellow and the knapweed bolts,…
Farm Equipment
Service the Swather and Baler Before First Cutting, Because a Breakdown Mid-Field Costs You the Window
Haying equipment sits nine months and then gets asked to run flat out for three weeks. A few hours of shop time…
Hay & Feed
Cut Your First-Cutting Alfalfa at Bud Stage, Because Every Day It Blooms Trades Leaf for Stem
First cutting sets the tone for your whole hay year. Waiting for more tonnage costs you protein, and cutting too short costs…
Hay & Feed
Alfalfa Weevil Chews the Top Out of Your First Cutting, and the Field Looks Frosted Before You Notice
Alfalfa weevil larvae feed on the growing tips in June and can strip a stand's protein and tonnage before the damage is…
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…