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…
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 Markets
Sort Your Cull Cows in June, Not at Preg-Check, and Don’t Feed Them All Summer for Nothing
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…
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…
Montana Ranching
Frothy Bloat Blows Up Fast on Lush June Pasture, and the Cow You Find Dead Was Fine at Breakfast
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…
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…
Land & Grazing
Set Your Destocking Triggers in June, Not the Day the Grass Runs Out
Deciding when and what to sell before summer turns dry keeps you in control of the market instead of the other way…
Montana Ranching
Breed the Heifers a Little Early, and Keep Them Gaining Right Through It
Replacement heifers set the tone for your whole calving season. Get them to breeding weight, turn the bull in ahead of the…
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
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
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…
Montana Ranching
Sort the Cull Cows Now, Not in October
The cows that won't pay their way through winter show it in June—bad bags, cancer eye, broken mouths, feet gone wrong. Mark…
Cattle
Anaplasmosis Shows Up in the Fall, but You Set It Up in June
The biting flies and ticks working your cows right now spread a blood disease that quietly builds all summer and drops mature…
Montana Ranching
Turning the Bull Out Isn’t the End of the Job: Watch Him Work
A bull that passed his breeding test in May can still come up lame, sore-footed, or plain lazy by July. Riding through…
Cattle
The Two-Year-Old Is the Cow Most Likely to Come Up Open
First-calf heifers have to grow, milk, and rebreed all at once, and they lose that fight quietly. Here's how to keep your…
Cattle
Implant the Steer Calves at Turnout: Cheap Pounds You Leave on the Table
Growth implants are one of the lowest-cost tools in the calf business, but plenty of Montana producers skip them or place them…
Cattle
Summer Pneumonia Hits the Calves You Thought Were Past the Risk
Bronchopneumonia in two- to four-month-old nursing calves shows up in the dog days, often after a cold rain or a long dusty…
Cattle
Your Vaccine Is Only as Good as the Cooler It Rode In: Cold Chain and Clean Technique on Summer Working Days
You can buy the best modified-live product on the shelf and still vaccinate a whole bunch of calves with nothing. Heat, sunlight,…
Cattle
Pinkeye in June: Stop the Spread Before Half the Calves Are Squinting
Face flies, dust, and tall seedheads make early summer prime time for pinkeye in Montana cattle. Here's how to catch it early…
Cattle
Trich Test Your Bulls Before They Hit the Cows: The Quiet Reason Cows Come Up Open
Trichomoniasis spreads silently through a breeding herd and shows up as open cows in the fall. Here's why testing bulls matters and…
Montana Ranching
Worms on Summer Grass: Why Your Yearlings Quit Gaining in July
Internal parasites cost more in lost gain than most Montana producers realize. Here's how to think about deworming timing on calves and…
Cattle
Summer Pneumonia in Nursing Calves: The Sickness That Hides in a Healthy-Looking Herd
Pneumonia in calves still on the cow catches a lot of Montana producers off guard in midsummer. Here's what triggers it and…
Cattle
Bull Turnout Done Right: Getting the Breeding Season to Pay Off in Montana
Mid-June is breeding season on most Montana ranches. A little attention to bull soundness, cow-to-bull ratios, and pasture observation now decides what…
Cattle
Pinkeye and Flies: Getting Ahead of the Summer Eye Problem
Pinkeye costs Montana cattle producers weight gain, dollars, and time every summer. Here's how to cut the fly pressure, irritants, and infection…