MAY is BEEF Month

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Front Page Stories

As cattlemen and women, we all know and believe beef is what’s best for dinner. As summer kicks off, albeit different this year, people are excited to fire up their grills, call the neighbors, and enjoy the sunshine and the smell of a summer barbeque. That’s why May has unofficially been deemed “Beef Month” in many states across the country.

This

When in Doubt, Can ‘em Out

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Front Page Stories

My four newest horses need wet saddle blankets and the broken rims north of my house are a great spot for a workout. After saddling Kansas, the most predictable of the four newbies, I caught three senior horses for my grandkids on this first shorter circle. Will is nine and rode Cody. I led the aged mare, Flip, packing four-year-old

Thoughts from the Editor

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Front Page Stories

I don’t know if there is enough time in the day to find, let alone respond to, the many published opinion pieces and even “factual” articles that claim beef production is destroying the planet and plant-based or lab grown meat may just be the ticket. My email is subscribed to “Google alerts” for any new articles that contain the words

The End of Meat is NOT Here

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Activists vs. Agriculture

The year is 2017, I’m sitting around the dinner table one afternoon with various members of my family. We’re talking about the ag industry, something common in the Purviance household, and I decide to tell my family about some of the things I’d seen on social media. My claims involved the usual suspects: false information spread by PETA, young animal

AgriKid of the Week

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Agri-Kid

Zane (age 4) and Grey Wayman (almost age 2) help their papa move hot wire fence in Ronan, Montana.

Honey’s Sweeter than Vinegar — Part 2

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Banjo
By Jean Peterson

There was trouble on the ranch last week. Not only was the ranch crew trying to rid all the water troughs of the goldfish Rascal had placed in them, but Mrs. McBauck was in a tizzy because the mountain lion and his goon nabbed a young hen. Banjo wasted no time in trying to reach the hen before it was

Comments by the Publisher

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Comments

May is National Beef Month so our Western Ag Reporter staff thought it would be fitting to make this our “Special Beef Month Issue.” Memorial Day is referred to by many as “The Unofficial Start of Summer” and is definitely the official start of “Grilling Season.” The best protein choice on the grill for many is BEEF.

Packing plants have slowly

Branding Etiquette

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Cooking with Susan
By Susan Metcalf

In honor of National Beef Month, I have decided to rerun a branding etiquette column since I have had numerous requests to repeat it. One of the nicest compliments I have received is when readers have told me they have this column posted on their refrigerator or they have shared it with some of their branding crew. Sadly, as the

Memorial Day 2020

Published May 28, 2020
Category: Farm & Food
By Alan Geubert

Every Memorial Day, my long-time friend David would honor both his family and fellow Vietnam War veterans with a visit to his hometown cemetery, an hour’s drive west of St. Louis.

Once there, and with the help of his siblings and cousins, David would mow the grass in the family plot, scrub its granite and brass grave markers, and place colorful,

Agri-Kid of the Week

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Agri-Kid

Hawkins Neal enjoying the spring weather, helping to put in a new stock tank in our new corrals in Garryowen, Montana.

Another COOL Resolution

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Front Page Photo

by Kayla Sargent

As the third prong of his so-called “Rancher Relief Plan,” Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) recently reintroduced a resolution supporting mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (mCOOL) along with Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD). Bringing back mCOOL for beef products would provide more transparency for American consumers and provide American producers with a competitive edge, a press release from

R-CALF Urges Opening of CRP Lands to Slow Cattle Supply Chain

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Inside Stories

R-CALF USA sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asking the Secretary to consider opening the 24 million acres of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to help alleviate the backlog in the live cattle supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that has reduced slaughter capacity.

The group estimates there are 500K or more fed cattle currently backed up

A Positive Producer Partnership

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Front Page Photo

by Mayzie Purviance

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to wreak havoc across the globe. With illness plaguing the masses, businesses closing up shop, and citizens scrounging to find a mask to wear to Costco, it’s hard to be positive. However, if there is one good thing that came out of the Coronavirus, it’s the

Obituary: Svend Jonas Mauland

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Obituary

Svend Jonas Mauland

September 18, 1931 – May 3, 2020

Svend Jonas Mauland, 88, died May 3 at the Pioneer Medical Center in Big Timber, Montana.

Swen, as he was known to most, was born September 18, 1931 in Big Timber to Jonas Adolph Mauland and Grace Marie Monroe Mauland. His early years were spent on the ranch north

Thoughts from the Editor

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Thoughts from the Editor

Do we strike while the iron is hot? Or will that yield a solution equivalent to throwing tarp over the roof in the midst of the rainstorm?

This million-dollar question seems to be a dividing factor in our industry, especially when it comes to the 50-14 bill.

I’ve been engrossed in conversation about a minimum cash trade mandate for the past week

Montana Farm Bureau Applauds Call for Beef Pricing Investigation

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Inside Stories

The Montana Farm Bureau is applauding President Trump calling for the Department of Justice to investigate the meatpacker pricing activity which has seen skyrocketing profits while the price of live cattle plummeted by 30 percent. Additionally, MFBF appreciates that Secretary Perdue and the USDA are expanding their existing investigation into pricing practices in the beef industry to also include recent

A Response to Zoe Rosenberg from 4-H and FFA Members

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Activists vs. Agriculture

“I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds – achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.”

– FFA

Remember to Say “Thank You”

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Cooking with Susan
By Susan Metcalf

To many of us, Memorial Day has become a long holiday weekend that marks the beginning of the summer season. But I hope at some point over the weekend, everyone will take time to think of the sacrifices our service men and women have made and continue to make so we can enjoy the freedoms we take for granted and

Farmers Union Welcomes Additional Assistance for Farmers and Workers

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Inside Stories

Amid the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $3 trillion relief and stimulus bill, known as the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. The legislation would provide funding for health services, state and local governments, housing assistance, infrastructure, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), stimulus checks for taxpayers, nutrition assistance,

Comments by the Publisher

Published May 21, 2020
Category: Comments

Like many of you, I find myself strolling past the meat counters while I’m grocery shopping to see what the prices are on meat products. This past Sunday, I was in Albertsons browsing the meat prices and selections when the guy behind the counter asked if he could help me find anything.

I explained that I felt a bit guilty shopping

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