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Yeah calving is in full gear up here too Sam. We live about 100 miles inland near the border in BC, so we're in the mountains. This weekend we decided to head over the pass and into the dry open country in the interior, clear the winter cobwebs and get some of the moss loose from behind the ears We took backroads and did like a 200 mile loop, the wife and I and the dogs we had a good time.

Probably saw 200 brand new calves along the way it was a nice day around 50 degrees. These outfits had them outside with lots of fresh bedding, decent looking nurseries and an easy go this day. We were zipping along drinkin it all in and I glanced up the road at a cow working her front end back and forth, there was just a glimpse through the brush as we passed and I could see she was actually chest deep in mud. My wife says that cows stuck! I think so too I said. I got stopped did a 3 point cop turn on the two lane highway looking around at hundreds of cattle in every direction wondering WTF anyone to do with the outfit might be. No sign of any buildings and I couldn't remember where the hell the last was. Thinking this could be a chit show here... pulled along side the cow a couple minutes later and just as we got there she kind of rolled and got a front hoof on the dry and pulled herself a bit, bit more scrambling and out she came. The boss said good karma fixed that one, maybe she's right.

Did another back road that ends up a mile high plus on a huge plateau. I think I'd taken it once eons ago, I was a kid. Anyways I didn't know but there's wild horses up there. There's a big mine up there, they're attracted to all the grass from the reclamation work. Signs say the mine opened in the 60s but the horses were there long before. Saw about 8 of them right off the road was pretty cool.

Anyways looks like the ranches are having an easier go than you guys, snows completely gone in the valley bottoms and that's where all the stock are right now. Hopefully you guys catch some nice sunny days like the other day soon.

No doubt Sam. The final build, serpentine and all. It'll be on my truck tomorrow. Just dumbazz retirement fun.

Salty, good on you for turning around and checking up on that ol' cow. Glad you didn't have to wallow out in the mud with her........grin

We calve alongside the Missouri river for a mile or two and there are some backwaters that can get pretty mucky when things thaw out. Knock on wood I've only had to pull a calf out, never had a cow get bogged down in that stuff.

We have roughly 80 on the ground, about 1/4 of the way done. Looks like more chilly temps this week and then hopefully it's time for spring.

I guess it's been a nightmare over in Phillips county which is about 100 miles west of here. They have more snow and have also been colder(-14F last week), not good. Every time I feel sorry for the situation here I think about those guys and all the froze up calves....





On a more positive note Ed, that looks pretty sharp! I might have missed it but how many HP's does that badboy produce?

And when you get it hooked up it will certainly require a vid!

Nice looking motor, but that’s some funny looking fuel injection :-)







We are supposed to get 2”-4” snow then rain equal to 1.25 of water in the valley this weekend. It’s going to get even more messy for the folks calving. I hope it warms up and drys up soon.

Stormin', that same front is rumored to hit us Saturday night. Calling for wind snow, just like last weekend only warmer....

But after last year you won't hear me bitching about the moisture!


Speaking of last year, during the first week of April we hit 81F and by May I was watering down our branding corral in hopes of cutting down on the dust.

The calves were actually hunting shade.......


As crazy as it sounds I'll take a spring like this over a hot and dry one.

Here's to a wet May and June!

Ouch 80 plus degrees beating down on a new black calve is not good at all. Most of the cattle country up here went through a terrible drought last year too but it didn't come early in fact the spring was quite wet and there was a bumper crop of grass and browse. Then someone shut the taps and cranked the heat and by July we were in to the worst forest fire season on recorded history here. All that lovely new growth of the spring... dead, and laying around like kindling in the hot winds. How's a guy supposed to win?

Anyways every year can't totally suck and this one doesn't have much suck in it yet sept for some extra plowin and such I guess when you think of the big picture. The Peace river country the better part of a thousand miles north of here, about as far north as anyone should be cattle ranching, and they do, just got a for real winter storm and a road closing class dump of snow over the weekend I'm told. So they'll have enough to do right about now. They say you need the farmin gene to do this. Looks like to me a bit of the gambling gene too. Ha

It was kind of a double whammy around here as well.

Worst drought on record followed by one of the coldest winters most people can remember. Not to mention some areas really got slammed by snow.


The hay chopper man stopped by this afternoon to do one last grind for the replacement heifers. He said he's still really busy and my dad joked that he would probably be out of work soon as there can't be much hay left in the country to chop. The guy said he knew of one person in NE MT(talking like a 20,000 sq mile area) that still had hay for sale.

$200/ton.


I did the math and at that rate it would cost us $35,000 per month to keep the cattle fed. Feed 5-6 months and that's a chunk of change....

Thank God we put up most of our own hay!

Hopefully the weather straightens out and you guys have a nice summer.

Hay around here is barely worth anything this year. Been taking some to the auctions pretty regularly all winter. Seems like it's been <$100/ton for nice 1st cutting and <$125 for decent second. Both were stored inside as well.

Ben, there's quite a few semi's pulling hay and they are all headed west...

I guess they're shipping it all the way from eastern Minnesota.


We've been keeping an eye on the stack and should have enough.....

Even last summer when the drought was taking hold hay was $160-180/ton.


I read an article in a regional farm mag and a MT hay broker said they wouldn't have a problem selling a few thousand ton at $300/ton.

You feel for the guys who got caught in a major bind.


Good lesson I guess.

You always hear people say by the time you factor in your time and your equipment it's cheaper to buy hay. Which might be true some of the time, but when it's not, you can go broke fast.

It's always good to have a surplus, never know when you'll need it.

If you guys have a good growing season how hard is it to put enough extra to build back your surplus?

Ben, most of our hay is raised on flood irrigated ground so that is how we survived without having to buy much.

We buy hay almost every year but if there are good spring rains and a cool June/July we hay up in the hills on dry land fields.

You can make a lot of (easy)hay if the conditions are right.

That's the only way we ever build up a stash.



Last summer we irrigated as much as we did in the 3 previous years combined.


Thank God for a good supply of water in a jumbo reservoir about 50 miles upstream.

Speaking of runoff, this next snow could be a stock dam filler which would be nice. Warming up so slow that most of our snow has soaked in and the creek here locally has hardly ran.
Good for da grass but bad for the water holes.

Wet snow on froze ground followed by a warm-up means running water!

Looks like spring is in the air

Spring? what is this spring you speak of?

Weather report from NW Montana, expecting 5" to 10" of spring the next couple of days.

Yep. Going to be 10 below tonight.

5 to 8 inches of snow Saturday.


Looking like there will be a nice warm up next week though.


We sorted the heavies off this morning. Should be nothing to calve now for the next two, three weeks.

Jim, I really enjoy your videos!

I enjoy all the videos. Keep them comin' boys!

This weekend should be another fun one!


Love the soundtrack BTW.

My phone is showing -7 and -22 with the wind chill been an absolute miserable calving season checking the herd every hour and a half day and night. Cows puckered Um tight and didn’t have any babies last night. Have about 110 on the ground closing in on half done. We are 65 head short of last year after selling a bunch of Breds in February because of the drought. Looks like going be a damn late start to seeding.