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'This is the Old West': Paid with a steak, bound by tradition, a Saturday was given up for branding day

MELVILLE — It takes community to brand, vaccinate, and castrate 160 calves. “Hey bull! — Hey! — Yah! — Hey cows!” Herding exclamations from 30 volunteer cowhands: Men, women and young adults, mixed with thunderous mooing. Organized corral chaos prevailed at the Open Spear Ranch, a sprawling quarterhorse and cattle operation near Melville, between

Grazing away wildfire risk? Congress considers cattle for wildfire suppression

More than 1,000 cows and sheep died when the 2024 Remmington fire scorched almost 200,000 acres in south-central Montana. If proposed federal grazing policies become law, those livestock could be considered firefighters instead of fire victims. Under federal proposals floated by both Congress and cabinet agencies this

Eat, Bleat, Repeat: Montana goat company helps landowners reduce wildfire fuels

Eat, Bleat, Repeat: Montana goat company helps landowners reduce wildfire fuels

SHERIDAN, Mont. — As wildfire season approaches, a local business is offering landowners another way to clear grass and weeds from their property. Goats can offer an eco-friendly way to manage land, whether it be regular real estate property, agricultural land or grazing land for other livestock, explained Ohana Goats

'He loved Montana': The myths and legends of Ted Turner at home in southwest Montana

As executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Mike Clark would often drive to the Flying D Ranch southwest of Bozeman to talk with Ted Turner about conservation at the elegant but modest log ranch home the media mogul co-decorated with Jane Fonda. Turner, who died Wednesday at age

The future of fencing? How virtual fencing could transform ranching across the Yellowstone ecosystem

The Bozeman-based Property and Environment Research Center and the Ricketts Conservation Foundation have partnered to launch the Yellowstone Ecosystem Virtual Fence Collaborative, an initiative aimed at encouraging livestock producers to adopt virtual fencing technology. “The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the largest and most intact ecosystems in the

'This year is worse': Why a Montana city is running out of water

'This year is worse': Why a Montana city is running out of water

FAIRFIELD — Chuck Dale, Fairfield’s water supervisor, wasn’t satisfied with the rain that blew across north-central Montana on Wednesday. It wasn’t nearly enough to refill the depleted wells in the 800-person town about 35 miles west of Great Falls. “Take a 30-foot cylinder, fill it

Virtual fencing technology gains support from Montana ranchers and officials

DEER LODGE, Mont. — Ranchers, environmental groups and Governor Greg Gianforte gathered outside of Deer Lodge on National Ag Day to discuss virtual fencing technology that is changing how cattle are managed in Montana. Virtual fencing acts sort of like an invisible fence for dogs would, where cows wear a collar