Last week, Montana Public Lands Council Directors attended the National Public Lands Council annual meeting, held in Cody, Wyoming. MPLC Chair, Vicki Olson of Malta, visited with us to review important topics that were discussed affecting Montana ranchers. These topics included Sage Grouse, PLC dues increase, emerging Animal Welfare law education, Bighorn and domestic sheep conflicts, and a change of leadership for national PLC.
The National Public Lands Council is hosting their annual meeting this week in Cody, Wyoming. Several Montana ranchers are taking advantage of the close proximity to attend the conference and meeting with public land users from across the country. Montana Stockgrowers and Montana Public Lands Council has several representatives at the meeting and we’ll be catching up later with Jay Bodner to learn more about the big topics of discussion coming out of the event.
Ranchers representing the Montana Public Lands Council in Cody this week include Vicki Olson of Malta and MPLC President, John and Joe Helle from Dillon, George Trischman from Sheridan and Johnny Schultz
Earlier, Montana Stockgrowers took part in a Tri-State Meeting prior to the PLC conference in Cody, to meet with representatives from our neighboring states of Idaho and Wyoming. MSGA Executive Vice President, Errol Rice, shares more about the topics discussed on the Stockgrowers podcast. As part of the meeting, the three states agreed to encourage state and federal agencies to create a working committee that will work toward better solutions for managing brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area.
The 2015 Young Ag Leadership Conference is less than a month away! If you have not registered, be sure to do so (Click Here!) and reserve your rooms for a great rate at the Crowne Plaza in Billings before September 18. More details are on our event page.
We have a great line up of speakers, workshops and discussion groups this year that covers a wide range of topics for Montana’s farming and ranching communities. Everyone ages 18-40 is welcome and encouraged to attend.
YALC will kick off Friday afternoon, October 2, with an industry tour including stops at a local field-to-tap distillery, a visit at a local bull stud and semen collection facility, and wrapping up with an opportunity to experience sugar beet harvest at a local farm. Seats for the tour are limited, so be sure to submit your registration early!
Friday night will feature a Culinary Extravaganza! To learn more about this interactive beef dinner, we caught up with Chaley Harney of the Montana Beef Council with a few questions about the event and what the Beef Checkoff is doing in Montana.
It’s been a busy week getting the word out about our Montana Running Ranchers relay team and the Team Beef program. This has included sharing the word in a few different television programs across the state.
On Tuesday, our friends at the Northern Ag Networkwere kind enough to include us in a segment on the Noon News which airs on CBS stations across the state. Lane Nordlund is a great person to work with and has been a great addition to the NAN team during the past year. Read our story on the Northern Ag Network site.
We then had a great opportunity to be featured on the statewide Wake Up Montana morning news, which is broadcast on ABC Fox Montana and KULR (Billings). Stephanie Ponte is a great reporter new to the area, and new to the topics of beef and ranching. There are morning people, then there are folks who are filled with tons of energy and enthusiasm before 6 a.m. It was great to meet Stephanie and we look forward to introducing her to even more Montana ranchers. Thanks for helping us share our story of beef and fitness in the ranching community and how everyone can include beef as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle! Read our story on KULR8.
Next up for many of the relay team members are the Bozeman Marathon and Half Marathon, September 13. Later that week, they’ll also be taking part in the inaugural Montana CattleWomen Ranch Run, a 25 mile relay on ranches in Lennep. We hope you’ll consider showing up, cheering everyone on and possibly even joining the races.
To learn more about the Team Beef Montana program, visit the Montana Beef Council’s website. Go ahead and fill out your application to join the program!
Be sure to follow the Montana Running Ranchers through Facebook! Running these 200-mile relays is so much more than showing up for 27 hours of fun. There are plenty of training runs, ranching adventures and races across Montana that team members participate in. Join the Facebook group, encourage team members and learn more about how beef is part of their training and competition.
The Montana Association of State Grazing Districts (MASGD) held their annual meeting on June 17th at Fort Keogh in Miles City. The meeting started with a joint Board of Directors meeting with the MASGD and the PLC, followed by a Grazing District Secretary appreciation lunch.
During the lunch, the Board recognized the secretaries for their valuable service to the districts. The Board also had a special recognition to Jennifer Cole, who is now retired, but was instrumental in the formation of the Missouri River Basin Grazing District in Alzada.
For the general business meeting, there were over thirty-five members in attendance. Informational updates were provided by Dustin Van Liew, Executive Director for the National Public Lands Council; Mark Petersen, Research Leader for Fort Keogh; Lila Taylor, Board of Livestock; Fred Wacker for MSGA, Richard Stuker, MT Fish and Wildlife Commission and Floyd Thompson, and Todd Yeager from the Bureau of Land Management.
The Grazing District members also received congressional updates from Jesse Anderson with Senator Tester’s office and Alex Sterhan with Congressman Zinke. Larry Ahlgren of Winnett and Dan Kluck of Malta were elected for a second term on the Board of Directors.
The 2016 annual meeting is tentatively scheduled for June in Malta, MT.
After the Grazing Districts meeting, we had the opportunity to sit down with Dustin Van Liew to learn more about the work Public Lands Council does in Washington D.C. as well as here in Montana.
Montana State University’s College of Agriculture, Montana Agricultural Experiment Station and MSU Extension will host a Twitter town hall on Monday, June 22, from 11 a.m. to noon. College of Agriculture faculty will participate in the town hall and answer questions regarding soil science, water security, agricultural production and the importance of youth in agriculture. Statewide agriculture-related organizations, industry leaders, and friends and supporters of agriculture are encouraged to join the discussion using the hashtag #bigskyagchat.
A Twitter town hall is similar to a public meeting or seminar, where participants engage in a discussion to raise awareness or ask questions. Instead of a physical meeting, the conversation takes place on Twitter in a question and answer format, in 140 characters or less.
The town hall is an outreach event in conjunction with Agriculture Is America, a national communications initiative aimed at highlighting the myriad teaching, research and extension accomplishments by the nation’s land-grant institutions.
On this week’s podcast, we’ll continue our conversation with Stockgrowers Executive Vice President, Errol Rice, to find out what happens in policy work after the legislative session ends in Helena. Plus, we’ll have a recap on sage grouse stewardship and what conservation of this bird’s habitat means for ranchers in the western states.
Learn more about Senate Bill 261, which establishes Montana’s sage grouse stewardship plans, that was signed by Governor Bullock last week.
Have questions or suggestions for future podcast topics? Connect with us via our Contact form.
At this weekend’s Spring Commencement, a long-time Stockgrowers member will receive an honorary doctorate in Animal and Range Sciences from Montana State University. Robert “Bob” Lee of Judith Gap is an established leader in the Montana agricultural community and has received many recognitions for his work throughout the years.
Lee and his wife, Kathy, own and operate the Robert E. Lee Ranch Company, a diversified cattle and grain operation located in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains in central Montana. The ranch has been recognized for its approach to managing its natural resources, including rangeland and water resources. It is also well-known for the tours it offers to groups from across the state and nation, as well as around the globe.
Bob Lee speaking with media at his ranch after receiving the 1996 Environmental Stewardship Award.
“Bob’s service to our country interrupted his college career but did not stop him from becoming an integral part of Montana’s premier cattle industry.” says Errol Rice, MSGA Executive Vice President. “His contributions to the betterment of our business and his ongoing stewardship for the land, and commitment to building strong agriculture leaders demonstrates his dedication to what he believes in.”
Lee has served as an active member of Montana Stockgrowers for many years. In 1995 and 1996, the Lee Ranch was recognized for their work in environmental stewardship, conservation and sustainability as recipients of the Montana, Regional and National Environmental Stewardship Award.
Lee served as chairman of the Montana Board of Livestock from 1999-2005, as well as chairman of the Montana Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative steering committee and Montana Governor’s Rangelands Resource executive committee. On a national level, Lee has served as chairman of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Property Rights and Environmental Management Committee, as well as on the National Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative steering committee.
Lee attended MSU Northern, but was drafted two months before graduation and spent six years serving the country in the Air National Guard.
Everyone at MSGA congratulates Bob on his recognition and thanks him for continued work and contributions in the Montana ranching community.
One of the bigger topics last week’s Montana Nutrition Conference was a discussion with Dr. Bruce Hoffman of Elanco Animal Health and Dr. Marty Zaluski, Montana State Veterinarian. These two had a great question and answer session regarding changes with Veterinary Feed Directives and our ability to continue using feed grade antibiotics in the livestock industry.
Montana Stockgrowers has been working with Dr. Hoffman and we’ll be providing you plenty of information about these changes and the relationships ranchers will need to build between their veterinarians and feed dealers with the implementation of these new regulations.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Hoffman for a lengthy discussion regarding these VFDs. He explained the changes in requirements in more detail and what we need to know before the new rules are in place by the end of 2016. Key points in the changes coming with Veterinary Feed Directives include the importance of involving veterinarians and nutritionists in our management decisions, abiding by label uses for antibiotics, and ensuring customers that we’re being good stewards of our resources in these conversations about antibiotics use in livestock.
On today’s podcast we’ll have a portion of that conversation, as well as some information about what Elanco is doing to bring greater awareness to the importance of protein in providing healthy food for the hungry amongst a rapidly growing global population through their Feed The Nine Campaign. Follow #FeedThe9 on Twitter or go to SensibleTable.com for more information.
But first, Ryan Goodman will catch up with MSGA Director of Natural Resources, Jay Bodner, for a quick review of a few bills during the Montana Legislative Session that affect wildlife management and landowner property rights here in Montana.
With Spring comes one of our favorite times of year. As calving is wrapping up for many ranches across Montana, those who started calving earlier in the year will begin branding in preparation for turnout on Spring and Summer grass ranges. Often when we ask ranchers across the state what they love about ranching, branding is an event that will more than likely be included in their response. It’s a great time for community as several neighbors join in to help, with great food and many memorable experiences.
One of our ranchers near Sidney, Montana recently captured their family’s Spring branding in aerial video. It’s a very cool perspective to watch as the cattle are gathered, sorted and branded.
Livestock branding has existed for centuries in European countries and eventually migrating to Central and North Americas. Since the earliest days on ranges, hot iron brands were used as a form of permanent identification to prevent rustling and served as a marker when sorting out mixed herds in common grazing areas.
Today, ranchers still brand cattle as a form of permanent identification to differentiate cattle from neighboring ranches and to prevent theft. Branding day is an opportunity for ranchers to give calves vaccinations and closely inspect their herds before turning cattle out on summer pastures. The branding events also serve as a strong tie to the heritage and culture of the American West.
During recent years, the cattle industry has recognized the significant contribution of cattle hides in leather markets and the negative impact excessive brand scarring can have on the value of that leather. Efforts have been made to reduce the number of brands, or relocate brands to reduce negative impacts on the hide value. Freeze branding has also become more popular in certain regions of the country as an alternative to hot iron branding.
We asked our current President, Gene Curry, a rancher from Valier, Montana why his family brands their cattle. Find out his perspective and watch branding day with his family in this video.
As a permanent form of identification, each brand, and its location on the animal must be different. Each state handles its registration and regulation of brands differently. In Montana, this is tracked and regulated by the Brands Enforcement Division of the Department of Livestock (DOL). Brands Inspectors must inspect cattle at the time of sale or when cattle are transported from one location to another to verify ownership or record change of ownership.
To ensure that all brands are different, the DOL records brands and their location on the animal, which are published in a Brand Book. Brands must be recorded every 10 years. Ranchers are keeping up with technology, as last year this database of brands was made available in a mobile application, which can search through the entire brands database to identify an owner or location of the brand.
Brands must be recorded as being on a specific location on the animal. These locations often include the hip, rib, shoulder, side or jaw. The image to the right shows several different locations for brands on cattle.
Read more about how brands are registered and tracked by visiting the Montana Department of Livestock.
Brands on livestock come in many shapes and sizes, and are based on a characters consisting of letters, numbers, lines or symbols. The brands are read from left to right. top-down, or outside-in. The position of the character makes a difference in how it is read. If a letter or number is on its side, it is read as “lazy”. If it has a quarter/half circle underneath the main character, it is read as “rocking”. Other symbols include diamonds, circles, rafters, crosses and bars.
Learn more about reading cattle brands from the Texas Brand Registration.
What is the story behind your ranch’s brand? Has your brand been passed down through the generations? Is there a story to the characters included? Maybe its a new brand with a nod toward a bright future?
Share your story with us and share a photo of your brand. Email [email protected] or visit our Facebook page to join the conversation!
