July 6, 2010 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Rancher Stewardship: Protecting Montana’s Prairie

In South Phillips County, near the hub of Malta, Montana, ranchers have called the prairie home for over 100 years. Here, ranchers have created a ranch and wildlife haven by working and living in harmony with nature. In this video, ranchers discuss the importance of raising their families here, developing innovative ranch management practices, working in cooperation with each other and building a lasting community to protect these prairielands. Biologists and conservationists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service also discuss the importance of ranchers in sustaining this diverse ecosystem and the wildlife species it supports. This video is brought to you by the Montana Stockgrowers Association’s Research, Education and Endowment Foundation.

July 5, 2010 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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MSGA’s President Tom Hougen – Melstone, MT

MSGA’s media intern Lauren Chase spent two days at the Hougen Ranch in Melstone, MT. This ranch belongs to MSGA’s president, Tom Hougen. During her stay, she learned how to bale hay, trailed a cattle drive, and saw quite the lightning storm. To see more photos, check out our Facebook page by clicking here.

July 5, 2010 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Sitz Angus Ranch Cattle Drive – June 2010

MSGA’s media intern Lauren Chase visited Sitz Angus Ranch in Harrison, Montana. She was able to take photos during Sitz’s cattle drive to the summer grazing pastures south of Ennis. It was also her first time on horseback and she loved it. To see more photos, check out our Facebook page by clicking here. 

June 30, 2010 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Wills Cattle Co. – Potomac, MT

Last week, MSGA’s media intern, Lauren Chase, had the opportunity to travel NW of Helena to the tiny town of Potomac, MT.
I interviewed the Wills Family, of Wills Cattle Co. who own a ranch just outside of town. They shared with me their family’s history in the area and talked about what ranching means to them. Before this trip, I hadn’t been to a ranch in Montana where timber was one of the prominent features. The trees were beautiful and the cattle seemed to enjoy the shade and scattered sun rays, and I felt as if I was in a dream. This trip yet again establishes just how pretty Montana is, how nice the people are, and how important ranching is to the nation.
Check out some photos from my interview on Montana Stockgrowers Association’s Facebook page: click here. 

June 6, 2010 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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What Lauren learned while spending time with ranchers in South Phillips Co. Montana

Lauren Chase South Phillips Ranch Montana

Written by media intern Lauren Chase
MALTA—After spending one week in South Phillips County Montana, I’ve come away with a lot of things, but there’s one that is the most important: the importance of agriculture producers to this country.
I grew up in Iowa, a state known for corn and pigs, but could I tell you the basics of farming? No. And when I started talking with ranchers in Montana, I realized just how embarrassing it is that I knew nothing about where my food comes from and especially how much work it is to make that food.
Back in Iowa, we have roughly seven high schools in the metro area and one that is in the outskirts of town. That one is known as “cow pie high” because farmer’s kids go there. I’m sure they know about the work farmers and their families dedicate to the production, but the rest of us, just fifteen minutes away aren’t taught even the basics and therefore, make fun of it. I think that is ridiculous now.
Starting at a young age, every child in this country needs to know why we have farms, why we raise livestock, and why individuals do back-breaking labor from sunrise to sunset. It is to keep their families, communities and the world from going hungry and I think they need more appreciation for what they do.

May 5, 2010 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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MSGA to reprint book “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana”

The Board of Directors of the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) recently approved a second printing of the association’s popular book “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana.” The book was compiled in 2009 to celebrate MSGA’s 125th Anniversary and features 142 Montana ranches 100 years of age or older. At the time of the first printing, the ranches included in the book were all working livestock operations that had been in the same family and in the same location as when they were established over a century ago.

The stories and photographs of these ranches comprise 472 pages in this commemorative hard-bound book, edited by Linda Grosskopf and Nancy Morrison. The cover features a JK Ralston painting, “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started” owned by Montana cattle industry notable, Pat Goggins, who also contributed a Foreword to the book. Several original drawings by Aubry Smith are included in the book, which also contains more than 1,000 photographs. The second printing of “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana” will be available in Summer 2010.

“We’re very excited to offer a second printing of this important book,” said Tom Hougen, MSGA president. “The stories of these ranches are a tribute to the perseverance and tradition of ranching in Montana. Each story is inspiring—demonstrating the raw grit and determination it took to sustain a family ranch over the past 100 years. This book honors a way of life that has helped make Montana what it is today.”

MSGA is currently taking pre-orders for “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana.” The price is $50, including shipping and handling. Click here to place an order online. Or click here to download an order form to mail in with payment. For more information or to order over the phone, call MSGA at (406) 442-3420.

February 3, 2010 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Young Cattlemen’s Conference tour details announced; Applications due Feb. 15

Young cattlemen's conference tour

This year, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) will hold its 31st Young Cattlemen’s Conference (YCC) for a limited number of young industry leaders, June 2-11, 2010. This year’s tour is sponsored by Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., Five Rivers Cattle Feeding and John Deere.

MSGA’s Research, Education and Endowment Foundation (REEF) will nominate one person between the ages of 25 and 50 from Montana to attend the conference. REEF will pay the full cost of the program and provide $500 for travel costs.

The primary objective of the YCC is to develop leadership qualities in young cattlemen and expose them to all aspects of the beef industry. The tour helps young leaders understand all areas of our industry ranging from industry structure to issues management, from production research to marketing.

This year’s tour will begin in Denver with a comprehensive overview of the industry. The group will take an in-depth look at many of the issues affecting our industry and what NCBA is doing to address these issues on behalf of its members, plus receive a comprehensive view of market information from Cattle-Fax. The group will then travel to western Kansas to visit various cattle producing operations in the area. From there, the group will travel to Sioux City, Nebraska to tour Tyson Fresh Meats, one of the largest beef packing and processing plants in the world. Tyson will host the group and will be sharing with them their views of the beef industry from a processor standpoint. Chicago is the next destination. Here the group will visit the Chicago Board of Trade and the Bruss Company- a large meat purveyor. The participants will then travel to the nation’s Capitol. Here they will get a chance to meet with their respective congressmen and senators. In addition, the group will visit with a number of regulatory agencies that make decisions affecting agriculture.

The 2010 tour will be from June 3-10, 2010. Participants will need to arrive in Denver on June 2nd and may depart from Washington DC on June 11th. Participants are asked to commit to staying the entire trip.

Application forms are available on the MSGA website, http://www.mtbeef.org/, or by calling (406) 442-3420. Applications are due February 15. You must be a member of MSGA and NCBA to attend.

November 30, 2009 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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Centennial ranch book selling out fast; WAR to host book signing at MSGA convention

Time is running out to reserve your copy of “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana.” We have fewer than 50 copies left for mail orders and will only have 50 copies available for sale at our 125th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Billings, Dec. 10-12. Don’t miss your chance to own a copy of this beautiful and important tribute to Montana’s ranching heritage! Mail order copies are $50 each, including shipping and handling. Books will sell for $45 at convention. Call (406) 442-3420 to reserve your copy!

Book orders will be available for pickup at convention

If you have already purchased/reserved your copy and will be attending convention, you will have the option to pick up your order then. We will gladly refund you $5 per book for shipping and handling by check in January, or you can donate the money to MSGA’s Advocacy Fund, which helps fund MSGA’s legislative and litigative efforts, or MSGA’s Research, Education and Endowment Foundation, which helps fund various educational, research, and leadership development programs for the Montana livestock industry. (Gifts to REEF are tax-deductible.)

Get your book signed by the editors and artist!

The Western Ag Reporter will host a book signing at the Trade Show Grand Opening on Friday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. during MSGA’s convention. Book editors Linda Grosskopf and Nancy Morrison, and book artist Aubry Smith, will be on hand to sign your copy of “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cow­ards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana” at the WAR booth, #78. Pick up your book at registration, or buy one for $45, and have it signed!
October 23, 2009 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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MSGA features 142 ranches in upcoming book about Montana centennial ranches

Century of Montana Family Ranching History BookAn upcoming book, The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana features 142 Montana ranches. The book, edited by Linda Grosskopf and Nancy Morrison, celebrates the long tradition of ranching in Montana, highlighting the stories of 142 ranch families that have been living and working on the same land for over 100 years.

Commissioned by the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) to commemorate its 125th Anniversary in 2009, the book honors the perseverance, courage and forward thinking of those who were able to pass their family ranch down the generations and help shape Montana as it is today. The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana tells the inspiring and heart-wrenching stories of the ranch families who have endured through the ups and downs of life on the sometimes unforgiving lands of Montana over the past 100 years. The book has all of the ingredients of a great story, with tales of love and death, success and failure, family and community.

While the heart of this commemorative hardbound book is the 142 ranch stories and accompanying historical pho­tographs, there are also other treasures to be found within its pages, including 37 pen-and-ink drawings by Aubry Smith, photographs of MSGA’s presidents and executive vice presidents, a timeline of important events in MSGA’s history, historical sidebars, and timelines to help tell the story of ranching in Montana over the last century.

The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana will be released in early December. MSGA is currently accepting pre-orders and is selling the book for $50, including shipping and handling. For more information, please contact MSGA at (406) 442-3420 or visit http://www.mtbeef.org/.

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Early praise for The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana:

“For a most humbling understanding of those who shaped Montana’s livestock industry, this book is none other than first class.”
~Christy Stensland, Executive Director
Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center

“…will be worth far more as a documentary of Montana ranch history than any of us realize today… this book will help future generations know and appreciate their family histories.”
~Pat Holman, Kinsella Ranch, est. 1891

“Great ranches are not made of the dirt, water, wind and grass that comprise their environment. They are formed and sustained by the character of the people attached to them… These are not just stories of Mon­tana ranches. They tell the story of America at her best…a superb tribute to the heritage of Montana and the American West.”
~Charles P. Schroeder, Executive Director
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

“Every family has an event-filled story, and every story is infused with accomplishment, tragedy, humor, and perseverance… What these families brought, and still bring, to Big Sky country was willingness for the tough work, and an enduring respect for each other and the land. Savor this book, and turn the pages slowly.”
~Richard Sims, Director of the Montana Historical Society

August 21, 2009 Comments are off Montana Stockgrowers Association
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MSGA compiles book “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana” for December release

To commemorate its 125th Anniversary, the Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) is compiling a book featuring over 140 Montana ranches that are 100 years old or older. The book, “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana,” features present-day working livestock ranches that have been in the same family and location as when they were established over a century ago. Many of the ranches in the book were honored at MSGA’s 125th Anniversary Celebration in Miles City, June 10‐14, 2009.

The stories and photographs of these ranches comprise nearly 500 pages which will be published in this collectible hard‐bound book, edited by Linda Grosskopf and Nancy Morrison. The cover features a JK Ralston painting, “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started” owned by Montana cattle industry fixture, Pat Goggins, who also contributed a Foreword to the book. Twelve Aubry Smith original drawings are included in the book, which also contains more than 1,000 photographs. “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana” will be released in early December this year.

“The stories of the ranches included in this book are a tribute to the perseverance and tradition of ranching in Montana,” said Tom Hougen, MSGA president. “The stories are inspiring—demonstrating the raw grit and determination it took to sustain a family ranch over the past 100 years. This book honors a way of life that has helped make Montana what it is today.”

MSGA is currently accepting pre-orders for “The Weak Ones Turned Back, The Cowards Never Started: A Century of Ranching in Montana.” The price is $35, including shipping and handling, until Sept. 1. After Sept. 1, the price will be raised to $50, including shipping and handling. Order forms are available on MSGA’s website, http://www.mtbeef.org/ or you can call MSGA at (406) 442-3420 to make your order over the phone.