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Calves, Cattle, Farming, Livestock Fencing
Ride the Boundary Fence Before the Cattle Find the Hole—and Your Neighbor Does First
Winter snowload, elk, and spring runoff leave gaps in the summer fence that cattle find fast. A few days of riding wire…
Water & Irrigation
Walk Your Summer Water Lines Now, Before a Stuck Float Empties the Tank on a 95-Degree Day
Stock water fails on the worst possible afternoon. A June check of tanks, floats, pipelines and solar pumps is cheaper than hauling…
Land & Grazing
Spray Leafy Spurge and Knapweed at the Right Growth Stage, or You’re Just Burning Diesel
Noxious weeds hit their most vulnerable window in June and early July. Hit spurge and knapweed at flowering with the right chemical…
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,…
Hay & Feed
Drought-Stressed Oats and Kochia Load Up on Nitrate, and a Hungry Cow Pays for It Fast
When a dry spring stunts your annual forage, nitrate can build to dangerous levels in the stems. Here's how to spot the…
Land & Grazing
Cattle Pound the Creek Bottom While the Ridge Grass Goes to Waste—Here’s How to Spread Them Out
On big summer country, cattle bunch in the bottoms and leave half the pasture standing. Salt placement, water, and a little riding…
Farm Equipment
Go Through the Haying Equipment Now, Because a Broken-Down Swather in a Weather Window Costs You the Cutting
First cutting waits on nobody. A weekend spent servicing the swather, baler, and rake before you drop the sickle keeps a good…
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.…
Hay & Feed
Bale the First Cutting Too Wet and the Stack Can Catch Fire Three Weeks Later
Hay put up above safe moisture keeps heating in the stack long after you've left the field, and by July it can…
Montana Ranching
The Calf You Don’t Find on Summer Range: Cutting Predator Losses Without Chasing Ghosts
Coyotes, wolves, and grizzlies all take calves on Montana summer range. A few management calls made in June do more to hold…
Montana Livestock
Blue-Green Algae Blooms on the Stock Pond Can Kill a Cow the Same Afternoon She Drinks
Late June heat and still water set up cyanobacteria blooms that turn a good stock pond into a death trap. Here's how…