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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Cattle
Blackleg Drops Your Best Calves in the Fresh Green Grass, and It Almost Always Hits Between Checks
Clostridial diseases like blackleg live in the soil and take the fastest-growing calves on summer pasture with no warning. A cheap two-shot…
Cattle
Summer Pneumonia Slips Into Nursing Calves on Grass, and You Won’t Hear a Cough Until One’s Down
Respiratory disease isn't just a feedlot problem. Nursing calves on summer range get pneumonia too, and the ones that survive it come…
Cattle
Mark the Bull Pull Date on the Calendar the Day You Turn Them Out
A breeding season with no end date scatters your calves across four months and quietly costs you money at every marketing. Setting…
Cattle
Heat Stress Hits Cattle Before the Thermometer Scares You, and the Damage Happens Overnight
Montana cattle handle dry heat well until a humid stretch and warm nights stack up. Here's how heat load builds, what it…
Cattle
Anaplasmosis Rides In on Ticks and Flies in Summer, and It Takes the Old Cows First
Anaplasmosis quietly builds in a Montana herd through the vector season, and the first sign is often a good, aged cow off…
Cattle
Foot Rot Sets Up in the Muddy Corners of Summer Range, and a Lame Cow Won’t Travel to Feed
Wet ground around gates, water and salt sets cattle up for foot rot in early summer. Catch the limp early, because a…
Cattle
A Bull That Quits in the Middle of Breeding Season Can Leave a Third of Your Cows Open
You turned the bulls out and the branding's done, but a bull that goes lame or gets whipped in the first three…
Cattle
Horn Flies Are Bleeding Weight Off Your Cows Right Now, and You Won’t See It on the Scale Until Fall
By mid-June the horn fly numbers climb fast on summer pasture. Here's how to knock them back before they cost you pounds…
Cattle
Pinkeye Runs Through a Summer Herd Fast, and the Calf That Goes Blind Never Catches Up
Pinkeye costs Montana producers weaning weight and doctoring time every summer. Here's how to catch it early, slow the spread, and keep…
Cattle
A June Thunderhead Builds in an Hour, and a Whole Bunch of Cattle Under One Tree Can Die at Once
Summer lightning kills more range cattle than most producers expect, and the losses come in bunches. Here's what raises the odds and…
Cattle
Grass Tetany Still Bites in a Cool, Wet June, and It Takes the Best Cows First
A lush, late-growing spring keeps magnesium short in the grass just as older cows are milking hard. Here's how tetany shows up,…
Cattle
The Vaccine You Left on the Tailgate in the Sun Didn’t Protect a Single Calf
Modified-live vaccines quit working long before you'd guess, and heat, sunlight, and dirty needles undo the whole day's work at the chute.…
Cattle
Summer Pneumonia Sneaks Into the Calves on Grass, and You Won’t See It Until One’s Down
Respiratory disease in nursing calves shows up on green pasture in June and July, long before weaning, and the ones you catch…
Cattle
The First Real Heat Wave Hits Before the Cattle Are Used to It, and That’s When You Lose One
Early-summer heat stacks up faster than cattle can shed it, especially on black hides and in still air. A few changes to…
Cattle
A String of Open Cows in the Fall Can Trace Back to a Trich Bull You Never Tested
Trichomoniasis quietly stretches out the calving season and leaves you with open cows nobody can explain. Breeding turnout is the time to…
Cattle
Legume Pasture Bloat Fills a Cow Up Fast on Lush June Alfalfa and Clover
Turning cattle onto wet, fast-growing alfalfa or clover in June can froth up a rumen and kill a good cow in an…
Cattle
Foot Rot Shows Up Lame in the Wet Corners, and June Mud Is Where It Starts
A cow that comes in three-legged lame with a swollen foot after a wet June has foot rot until proven otherwise. Catch…
Cattle
Water Hemlock Comes Up in the Wet Meadow, and a Bite of the Root Will Kill a Cow
Water hemlock is the deadliest plant on most Montana outfits, and it grows right where cattle graze in June — along creeks,…
Cattle
Keep Loose Mineral in Front of the Cows All Summer, and Keep Them Coming Back to It
A summer mineral program only works if the cows actually eat it and you put it where they'll find it. Here's how…
Cattle
Check the Bull Halfway Through Breeding, Not Just Before You Turn Him Out
A breeding soundness exam in May tells you a bull was good the day the vet looked at him. What happens in…