Banjo cartoon dog

A Dose of His Own Medicine

Audio Article

“Wait for it,” Banjo said. The ranch crew hid behind a bare pasture knoll.  Rascal skittered along the ditch’s end.  Water wasn’t turned on yet, but there had been enough warm days to have thawed a little snowmelt and now it had frozen over, once again, creating a solid layer of ice.  Tuff snickered in eager anticipation. “Look at that […]

Obituary: Robert Richard Wagner

Audio Article

Our beloved cowboy rode off into the sunset April 1, 2021, at age 92.  Robert Richard Wagner (Bob) was born December 17, 1928, at Wilbur, Washington, to Ernest Carl and Ethel Elaine (Partridge) Wagner.  He was a 4th generation farmer on land his family homesteaded.  His great-parents, Damian and Christina Wagner, immigrated from Paffenweiler Baden Germany.  Damian served in the […]

Lloyd

Obituary: Lloyd Irvin Laughery

Audio Article

  Lloyd Irvin Laughery, age 74, of Sentinel Butte, North Dakota, formerly of Whitehall, Montana, passed away at St. Alexius Bismarck on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Lloyd was born on June 14, 1946 to Leroy and Helen (LaFurge) Laughery.  He attended elementary school in Judith Gap, Montana, graduating high school in Fromberg, Montana in 1964.  After high school, Lloyd attended […]

Permanent Solution to Death Tax Burden Introduced

Audio Article

The Preserving Family Farms Act of 2021 was introduced by U.S. Representatives Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN).  This bipartisan legislation to expand IRS Code Section 2032A would allow cattle producers to take advantage of the Special Use Valuation and protect family-owned businesses from the devastating impact of the federal estate tax, commonly referred to as the Death Tax. […]

Grilling Season Beef Rally

Audio Article

This year’s grilling season rally is now progressing higher than all normal years and has no doubt been helped by the vaccines and stimulus checks, along with restaurant and ballpark openings which have all promoted family and friend gatherings.  The daily spot Choice box beef cutout ended the week on Friday, April 9 at $272.17, $19.32 higher compared to previous […]

Calf in chute

Love Your Pasture, Love Your People

Audio Article
Eagle Pass Ranch

It’s a sunny South Dakota morning: the air is still, the dust is settled, and in the distance, you can hear an old cow moo.  All is calm, that is, until you get to Eagle Pass Ranch.  This particular morning at Eagle Pass, pickups line the driveway and the barn is full of helping hands.  It’s time to wean calves, […]

Chad Reisig Selected as NILE General Manager

Audio Article

The search for the next NILE General Manager is over and the NILE Board of Directors and Staff are excited to announce Chad Reisig as the ninth NILE General Manager. The NILE Organization began its search for a new general manager in November 2020 following current General Manager Jennifer Boka’s announcement to depart from the organization in November of 2021.  […]

Montana Stockgrowers Members Join Board of Livestock

Audio Article

The Montana Department of Livestock welcomed four new members to the Board of Livestock at its March meeting Wednesday.  Greg Wichman joined the board as the sheep representative in addition to Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) members Gene Curry, Jake Feddes, and Alan Redfield, all serving as cattle representatives. Gene Curry, appointed board chair, has spent his life working in the […]

Cookbook

Rancher’s Guide to Farming

Audio Article

Farming on cow/calf operations gets slipped in instead of sleep between calving, feeding, branding, fencing, and all the other spring work.  It is often a high-speed, high-stress form of diversification that causes a lot of laundry problems. Anyway, the inspiration for the following “Rancher’s Guide to Farming” came when I wandered out to the shop.  I could tell that something […]

children looking at cow

Agri-Kid of the Week

Audio Article

Mason and Aubrey Schlatter are all business selling their WCC bulls a the Dubas Calle Auction!