1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,333 - [Narrator] Montana Ag Live is made possible by. 2 00:00:04,333 --> 00:00:06,700 The Montana Department of Agriculture, 3 00:00:07,700 --> 00:00:08,533 MSU Extension, 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:12,766 the MSU Ag Experiment Stations 5 00:00:12,766 --> 00:00:13,900 of the College of Agriculture, 6 00:00:15,500 --> 00:00:16,666 the Montana Wheat & Barley Committee, 7 00:00:18,633 --> 00:00:20,100 Cashman Nursery & Landscaping, 8 00:00:22,266 --> 00:00:24,100 the Northern Pulse Growers Association, 9 00:00:25,766 --> 00:00:26,966 and the Gallatin Gardeners Club. 10 00:00:28,500 --> 00:00:32,000 (country music continues) 11 00:00:44,666 --> 00:00:45,633 - Good evening. 12 00:00:45,633 --> 00:00:47,800 Welcome to another edition of Montana Ag Live, 13 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:52,033 originating again tonight from the studios of KUSM 14 00:00:52,033 --> 00:00:55,000 on the very dynamic campus we call Montana State University 15 00:00:55,966 --> 00:00:57,500 and coming to you over 16 00:00:57,500 --> 00:00:59,500 your Montana Public Television System. 17 00:01:00,866 --> 00:01:03,600 I'm Jack Riesselman, retired Professor of Plant Pathology. 18 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:04,866 Happy to be your host this evening. 19 00:01:05,733 --> 00:01:08,233 This is the next to last fall program we have. 20 00:01:08,233 --> 00:01:10,466 We've kind of focused on conservation 21 00:01:10,466 --> 00:01:12,100 and as the public wants, 22 00:01:12,100 --> 00:01:16,433 we've had more producers on the program as guests this fall. 23 00:01:16,433 --> 00:01:17,500 We have another one tonight 24 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:20,000 and I think you're gonna enjoy the program a lot 25 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,700 and of course you're gonna learn a lot too. 26 00:01:22,700 --> 00:01:24,666 So with that, first of all let me introduce 27 00:01:24,666 --> 00:01:26,066 the panel tonight. 28 00:01:26,066 --> 00:01:28,000 Way on my left, Abi Saeed. 29 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,466 Abi is our Extension Horticultural Specialist. 30 00:01:31,466 --> 00:01:35,166 If you have questions about plants going into winter, 31 00:01:35,166 --> 00:01:37,900 type of apples you're growing, things like that, 32 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:39,800 tonight would be an excellent opportunity 33 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,400 to call in and talk to Abi. 34 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,066 She'll answer your question. 35 00:01:44,066 --> 00:01:47,000 Our guest tonight, and I met Lon this past summer, 36 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:48,533 very engaging individual. 37 00:01:48,533 --> 00:01:51,633 He's a rancher from out at Terry, Montana 38 00:01:51,633 --> 00:01:53,433 and if you don't know where Terry is 39 00:01:53,433 --> 00:01:54,333 you can look it up. 40 00:01:54,333 --> 00:01:57,200 It's kind of 340 miles east of Bozeman. 41 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,166 Great place, right along the Yellowstone River. 42 00:02:00,166 --> 00:02:01,633 Lon, it's good to have you here. 43 00:02:01,633 --> 00:02:03,600 I'm going to come back to you in a minute. 44 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:04,733 You can tell us a little bit 45 00:02:04,733 --> 00:02:06,433 about some of the things you do. 46 00:02:06,433 --> 00:02:09,933 Tim Seipel, he wants to be called a weed ecologist. 47 00:02:09,933 --> 00:02:10,766 (Tim Seipel laughs) 48 00:02:10,766 --> 00:02:11,766 I refuse to do that. 49 00:02:11,766 --> 00:02:13,466 He's a weed scientist. 50 00:02:13,466 --> 00:02:15,100 - There you go. 51 00:02:15,100 --> 00:02:16,233 - [Jack Riesselman] And Sam Wyffels. 52 00:02:16,233 --> 00:02:17,866 Sam has been here before. 53 00:02:17,866 --> 00:02:20,700 He's an Extension beef specialist. 54 00:02:20,700 --> 00:02:22,966 Sam is very knowledgeable about beef 55 00:02:22,966 --> 00:02:25,533 and we'll get some good interaction going tonight. 56 00:02:25,533 --> 00:02:28,400 Answering the phones tonight, John Holly 57 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:29,533 and Nancy Blake, 58 00:02:29,533 --> 00:02:31,666 and thank you guys for being here. 59 00:02:31,666 --> 00:02:34,233 And before I introduce Lon, 60 00:02:34,233 --> 00:02:37,600 he's with a company called Cherry Creek Ranch, 61 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,200 as I mentioned out by Terry, Montana. 62 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:41,533 Beautiful part of the state. 63 00:02:41,533 --> 00:02:43,500 I love Eastern Montana. 64 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:45,800 I'm a good salesman for that part of the state 65 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:47,666 and also Fort Benton. 66 00:02:47,666 --> 00:02:51,900 Lon, you're big in that conservation initiative, 67 00:02:51,900 --> 00:02:54,300 Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative. 68 00:02:54,300 --> 00:02:55,500 Tell us what that is. 69 00:02:56,566 --> 00:02:58,766 - In 1991 70 00:02:58,766 --> 00:03:03,700 as great help from a guy named Bob Drake from Oklahoma, 71 00:03:04,166 --> 00:03:06,933 there was a group of people that wanted to help refocus 72 00:03:06,933 --> 00:03:09,800 the Natural Resources and Conservation Service 73 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:11,733 on grazing lands. 74 00:03:11,733 --> 00:03:14,966 Farmland had been the main focus of the NRCS 75 00:03:14,966 --> 00:03:17,800 and the old Soil Conservation Service before that. 76 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,400 And so a group of people got together 77 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:21,633 and they wanted to help 78 00:03:22,700 --> 00:03:26,466 refocus a little bit of the NRCS's efforts and monies 79 00:03:26,466 --> 00:03:29,666 on rangeland specialists that would be available 80 00:03:29,666 --> 00:03:32,300 for people that had questions and wanted to do 81 00:03:32,300 --> 00:03:33,600 at that time, 82 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:35,933 it was the beginning of the EQIP program, 83 00:03:35,933 --> 00:03:38,700 Environmental Quality Incentive Program. 84 00:03:38,700 --> 00:03:42,100 You know, so the GLCI was kind of dreamed up and born. 85 00:03:42,100 --> 00:03:46,500 A couple, some of the original members were 86 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:48,233 Bob Lee from Judith Gap, 87 00:03:48,233 --> 00:03:50,633 John Hollenback's from Gold Creek, 88 00:03:50,633 --> 00:03:54,933 Pete Jackson was from the Harrison area, 89 00:03:54,933 --> 00:03:57,633 and that was in 1991. 90 00:03:57,633 --> 00:04:00,466 I came on board in 1992 91 00:04:00,466 --> 00:04:03,833 and we're members of a producer steering committee. 92 00:04:03,833 --> 00:04:06,100 And we don't get paid any money for this, 93 00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:10,000 but we have a conference call once a month 94 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:11,766 or a Zoom meeting once a month 95 00:04:11,766 --> 00:04:14,100 and we meet twice a year. 96 00:04:14,100 --> 00:04:17,433 And we are given a pot of money 97 00:04:17,433 --> 00:04:21,133 by the State Range Conservationist for the NRCS. 98 00:04:21,133 --> 00:04:24,266 And we try to divvy that up for projects 99 00:04:24,266 --> 00:04:26,600 that are either educational or research 100 00:04:28,033 --> 00:04:29,733 throughout the state of Montana. 101 00:04:29,733 --> 00:04:33,133 - You know, I've said this all along this fall, 102 00:04:33,133 --> 00:04:34,733 the ranching community, 103 00:04:34,733 --> 00:04:38,200 starting probably in the early '90s, late '80s, 104 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,133 have really focused more on conservation 105 00:04:41,133 --> 00:04:43,333 and going into the next generation, 106 00:04:43,333 --> 00:04:46,000 leaving the land better than when you first got it. 107 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,500 How successful is it? 108 00:04:47,500 --> 00:04:49,733 Have you been able to really make 109 00:04:49,733 --> 00:04:51,400 a significant difference 110 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,766 in some cases out in Eastern Montana with the Coalition? 111 00:04:54,766 --> 00:04:55,600 - I think so, 112 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,966 but I think it was before that time period. 113 00:04:57,966 --> 00:04:59,133 I always tell everybody, 114 00:04:59,133 --> 00:05:00,466 "I didn't have to save the world, 115 00:05:00,466 --> 00:05:01,700 my dad did that." 116 00:05:01,700 --> 00:05:02,533 (Jack Riesselman laughs) 117 00:05:02,533 --> 00:05:04,700 I just have to build on what he did. 118 00:05:04,700 --> 00:05:05,966 You know, that the, 119 00:05:05,966 --> 00:05:09,933 my father was a young boy in the 1930s 120 00:05:09,933 --> 00:05:12,033 and it was a, 121 00:05:12,033 --> 00:05:15,833 just a disaster in the making from the homestead era on, 122 00:05:15,833 --> 00:05:19,266 you know, the over-utilization, poor farming methods, 123 00:05:19,266 --> 00:05:20,700 all that stuff, you know? 124 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:23,533 And so with the end of the 1930s 125 00:05:23,533 --> 00:05:26,166 and the beginning of the conservation programs, 126 00:05:26,166 --> 00:05:28,700 that deal just kind of built and built and built. 127 00:05:28,700 --> 00:05:31,566 We actually have lands that were plowed 128 00:05:31,566 --> 00:05:33,433 and never, ever seeded back. 129 00:05:33,433 --> 00:05:36,000 They just went back over time. 130 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,400 And so 131 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:42,366 when the, actually 1960s, '70s, 132 00:05:42,366 --> 00:05:44,333 the conservation movements, 133 00:05:44,333 --> 00:05:47,400 environmental movements of the early 1970s 134 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,900 kind of helped focus the government back on 135 00:05:51,033 --> 00:05:54,200 continuing the improvements 136 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,200 and programs for the land, so. 137 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:57,200 - I've been impressed. 138 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:58,033 I really have been. 139 00:05:58,033 --> 00:06:00,266 I've been here since '79 140 00:06:00,266 --> 00:06:02,166 and the changes in 141 00:06:03,166 --> 00:06:05,533 the ranching community has been very noticeable 142 00:06:05,533 --> 00:06:06,566 and I appreciate that 143 00:06:06,566 --> 00:06:09,733 and you guys deserve a lot of credit there. 144 00:06:09,733 --> 00:06:10,733 Before we move on, 145 00:06:10,733 --> 00:06:12,833 I've got a question here that I wanted 146 00:06:12,833 --> 00:06:13,900 to get to you in a minute. 147 00:06:13,900 --> 00:06:15,466 It came in from Libby. 148 00:06:15,466 --> 00:06:19,166 Before that, I wanna go to Abi. 149 00:06:19,166 --> 00:06:21,300 And this came from Huntley 150 00:06:21,300 --> 00:06:25,000 and she thinks she has ladybug infestation in the house. 151 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,800 Why, and if that's the case? 152 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,033 - Yeah, so this is that time of year in the fall 153 00:06:30,033 --> 00:06:33,466 where lady beetles are looking for places to hunker down 154 00:06:33,466 --> 00:06:34,400 in the winter. 155 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,600 And especially for Asian lady beetles, 156 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,466 they need that kind of warmer environment to survive. 157 00:06:39,466 --> 00:06:41,266 So, they find their way into your homes. 158 00:06:41,266 --> 00:06:43,900 That's what they're doing to just get through winter. 159 00:06:43,900 --> 00:06:46,266 They're not gonna reproduce inside your home 160 00:06:46,266 --> 00:06:48,566 but any sort of opening they can find, 161 00:06:48,566 --> 00:06:50,100 they're looking for a place to hunker down. 162 00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:51,666 That's why they're getting in there. 163 00:06:51,666 --> 00:06:53,000 The best way to manage them 164 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:54,233 if you don't want them in there, 165 00:06:54,233 --> 00:06:57,000 make sure any kind of cracks, crevices and things like that 166 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,966 are sealed and then vacuum them up. 167 00:06:59,966 --> 00:07:01,033 - What are they, I mean, 168 00:07:01,033 --> 00:07:03,866 you gotta have some aphids around if you've got ladybugs. 169 00:07:03,866 --> 00:07:05,133 - Yeah, and yeah, 170 00:07:05,133 --> 00:07:07,100 chances are that you probably have 171 00:07:07,100 --> 00:07:10,333 some nice, soft-bodied insects that they've been feeding on. 172 00:07:10,333 --> 00:07:11,466 But in general though, 173 00:07:11,466 --> 00:07:13,700 this is just that common time of year. 174 00:07:13,700 --> 00:07:16,633 They don't feed during the winter months. 175 00:07:16,633 --> 00:07:17,466 - All right, thank you. 176 00:07:17,466 --> 00:07:22,000 I wanna go to Lon and I've got a question for Tim here. 177 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,133 From Libby, Lon, this person knows 178 00:07:25,133 --> 00:07:28,833 that Eastern Montana is generally drier 179 00:07:28,833 --> 00:07:31,800 than ranching in the western part of the state. 180 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,866 They wanna know how you supply water 181 00:07:33,866 --> 00:07:34,700 to your cattle out there. 182 00:07:34,700 --> 00:07:36,733 That's a good question. 183 00:07:36,733 --> 00:07:40,833 - Water in quantity and quality. 184 00:07:40,833 --> 00:07:42,333 We have quality issues too, 185 00:07:42,333 --> 00:07:46,133 where we have extremely high pH of our water. 186 00:07:46,133 --> 00:07:48,933 And this can cause a thing called urinary calculi, 187 00:07:48,933 --> 00:07:51,800 water belly, stones form in the urethra. 188 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:53,700 And it's a really serious deal. 189 00:07:54,633 --> 00:07:55,500 Anyway, 190 00:07:56,500 --> 00:07:58,400 with the help of the NRCS, 191 00:07:59,233 --> 00:08:01,233 sometimes the BLM, 192 00:08:01,233 --> 00:08:04,166 we go to great lengths to drill wells, do pipelines. 193 00:08:04,166 --> 00:08:06,733 We have I think eight 194 00:08:06,733 --> 00:08:10,466 solar wells at the moment, several windmills. 195 00:08:10,466 --> 00:08:14,600 And if anybody wonders what we do, 196 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:16,766 water is about it. 197 00:08:16,766 --> 00:08:18,566 Many miles of pipeline. 198 00:08:18,566 --> 00:08:19,400 - [Jack Riesselman] Okay. - I've seen 199 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,866 some of the watering stations out towards Lindsay 200 00:08:21,866 --> 00:08:24,300 or some other things that EQIP money, 201 00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:27,433 putting, paying to move, put pipe in. 202 00:08:27,433 --> 00:08:28,266 - Yeah. - And put some different 203 00:08:28,266 --> 00:08:31,100 watering sources out of the riparian areas, 204 00:08:31,100 --> 00:08:32,466 out of some of the areas 205 00:08:32,466 --> 00:08:34,466 so you get grazing up on the hills. 206 00:08:34,466 --> 00:08:35,533 I thought that was really interesting. 207 00:08:35,533 --> 00:08:36,833 - Really works, that. 208 00:08:36,833 --> 00:08:39,600 And the GLCI has actually funded 209 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:41,733 some of these studies where 210 00:08:41,733 --> 00:08:43,433 in Western Montana especially, 211 00:08:43,433 --> 00:08:47,033 we'll put a solar pump in a stream 212 00:08:47,033 --> 00:08:51,000 and pump it off to a tank at least a quarter of a mile away 213 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,933 and then hire a grad student to keep track 214 00:08:52,933 --> 00:08:54,833 of whether the cows water, the stream. 215 00:08:54,833 --> 00:08:55,666 (group laughs) 216 00:08:55,666 --> 00:08:57,066 And believe it or not, 217 00:08:57,066 --> 00:08:58,600 they like water out of a tank 218 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:00,500 better than walking in the mud and the bugs. 219 00:09:00,500 --> 00:09:01,666 - I would believe that. 220 00:09:01,666 --> 00:09:03,966 And grad student labor comes pretty cheap, thankfully. 221 00:09:03,966 --> 00:09:04,800 (group laughs) 222 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,233 I think we were all there one time or another. 223 00:09:07,233 --> 00:09:11,300 Tim, this person from Fairfield says 224 00:09:11,300 --> 00:09:14,000 they think they're seeing less wild oats than they used to. 225 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:15,733 Is there a reason for that? 226 00:09:15,733 --> 00:09:17,300 - Well, maybe. 227 00:09:18,633 --> 00:09:20,866 The Fairfield Bench still has a lot of wild oats, 228 00:09:20,866 --> 00:09:21,866 there's no doubt about it. 229 00:09:21,866 --> 00:09:24,300 And there is some really ferocious 230 00:09:24,300 --> 00:09:25,766 herbicide resistance 231 00:09:26,866 --> 00:09:29,333 in wild oats on the Fairfield Bench. 232 00:09:29,333 --> 00:09:30,266 One of the things that's, 233 00:09:30,266 --> 00:09:33,100 might have changed their perception of it a little bit 234 00:09:33,100 --> 00:09:36,900 is wild oats are really a great weed of tillage, 235 00:09:36,900 --> 00:09:38,333 tillage and center pivots. 236 00:09:38,333 --> 00:09:40,166 So in those malt barley areas 237 00:09:40,166 --> 00:09:41,666 where we still have lots of tillage, 238 00:09:41,666 --> 00:09:43,433 you get a lot more wild oats. 239 00:09:43,433 --> 00:09:46,366 When you actually go into a no-till system, 240 00:09:46,366 --> 00:09:48,866 wild oat doesn't do as well 241 00:09:48,866 --> 00:09:50,033 and so you get, 242 00:09:50,033 --> 00:09:52,233 because it doesn't like to germinate on that duff 243 00:09:52,233 --> 00:09:54,100 in the litter that's left on the top. 244 00:09:54,100 --> 00:09:55,566 So that might be one of the reasons 245 00:09:55,566 --> 00:09:58,200 they think they see fewer wild oats out there. 246 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,566 But they're still really tough weed to manage 247 00:10:00,566 --> 00:10:02,233 in a lot of situations. 248 00:10:02,233 --> 00:10:04,066 - Okay, thank you. - Mm-hmm. 249 00:10:04,066 --> 00:10:04,900 - You know, I kind of think 250 00:10:04,900 --> 00:10:07,166 I'm not seeing as many as I used to, but yeah. 251 00:10:07,166 --> 00:10:08,100 - You know Dave Wichman, 252 00:10:08,100 --> 00:10:11,100 who used to be the Superintendent 253 00:10:11,100 --> 00:10:13,433 of the Central Ag Research Station, 254 00:10:13,433 --> 00:10:16,100 he said the same thing to me 255 00:10:16,100 --> 00:10:20,233 and his, I just gave his answer right now. 256 00:10:20,233 --> 00:10:22,333 - Dave knows what he is doing once in a while. 257 00:10:22,333 --> 00:10:23,600 - [Tim Seipel] Yeah, he does. - In case he's watching. 258 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:24,700 - [Tim Seipel] Mm-hmm. 259 00:10:25,866 --> 00:10:26,700 - Sam, 260 00:10:28,233 --> 00:10:32,066 most people look at hay 261 00:10:32,066 --> 00:10:35,533 as the primary source of forages for cattle. 262 00:10:35,533 --> 00:10:37,233 Are there some other alternatives? 263 00:10:37,233 --> 00:10:40,633 And I've seen corn actually been baled. 264 00:10:40,633 --> 00:10:41,466 Does that work? 265 00:10:41,466 --> 00:10:43,733 And both of you guys can jump in at 'em. 266 00:10:43,733 --> 00:10:45,200 What are some of the other forages 267 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,200 that you might be able to use for cattle? 268 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,266 - Yeah, I mean I've seen corn fed to cattle, 269 00:10:50,266 --> 00:10:53,233 but usually it's mostly as like a silage or a. 270 00:10:53,233 --> 00:10:54,833 - Right. - Or maybe even 271 00:10:54,833 --> 00:10:56,033 grazing out there. 272 00:10:56,033 --> 00:10:59,033 But yeah, there's a lot of options. 273 00:10:59,033 --> 00:11:00,600 One of the interesting things, 274 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,066 last year I was on a tour across Eastern Montana 275 00:11:04,066 --> 00:11:06,866 and not too far from your guys' place actually, 276 00:11:06,866 --> 00:11:09,033 and some folks talked about growing 277 00:11:09,033 --> 00:11:13,500 some kind of sorghum-sudan grass, cover crop type things 278 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:15,600 and they decided that they wanted to graze that 279 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:17,366 and wanna hay that 280 00:11:17,366 --> 00:11:19,833 and said it's the best their cattle have been doing 281 00:11:19,833 --> 00:11:21,700 in the fall like this in quite a while. 282 00:11:21,700 --> 00:11:23,100 And it's because that, 283 00:11:23,100 --> 00:11:25,333 some of those forages hold onto their quality 284 00:11:25,333 --> 00:11:29,166 a little better than what our rangelands typically do. 285 00:11:29,166 --> 00:11:31,300 But yeah, there's a lot of options out there, 286 00:11:31,300 --> 00:11:35,300 a lot of NRCS programs and others are, to, 287 00:11:35,300 --> 00:11:39,000 that promote soil health are planting cover crops. 288 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,766 And what we're finding is that grazing cover crops 289 00:11:41,766 --> 00:11:43,533 can add some additional benefits 290 00:11:43,533 --> 00:11:46,166 by getting those animals back on that crop ground 291 00:11:46,166 --> 00:11:48,033 and integrated it in. 292 00:11:48,900 --> 00:11:51,766 But when you're grazing some of these, 293 00:11:51,766 --> 00:11:53,033 I guess my word of caution is. 294 00:11:53,033 --> 00:11:54,433 - [Lon Reukauf] Yeah. - When you're grazing 295 00:11:54,433 --> 00:11:56,500 some of these crop plants, 296 00:11:56,500 --> 00:11:59,800 and a lot of 'em have been known to be nitrate accumulators, 297 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:02,600 or potentially maybe some prussic acid issues. 298 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:03,633 - [Lon Reukauf] Right. - If we're looking 299 00:12:03,633 --> 00:12:07,400 at some of those C4, warm season-type plants. 300 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,966 And so we always recommend to do a forage sample 301 00:12:11,966 --> 00:12:13,366 before you do that. 302 00:12:13,366 --> 00:12:15,966 And luckily we know that nitrates can be 303 00:12:15,966 --> 00:12:17,300 a problem in Montana, 304 00:12:17,300 --> 00:12:19,500 especially with drought-type conditions. 305 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:21,333 And so most, 306 00:12:21,333 --> 00:12:24,133 I would say most of our Extension offices have 307 00:12:24,133 --> 00:12:25,433 nitrate quick tests. 308 00:12:25,433 --> 00:12:28,133 And if you test positive on the quick test, 309 00:12:28,133 --> 00:12:30,166 they have some areas 310 00:12:30,166 --> 00:12:32,133 or some recommendations of what we can do 311 00:12:32,133 --> 00:12:35,100 to either get a real hard number on that 312 00:12:35,100 --> 00:12:37,100 or to 313 00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:38,033 look at 314 00:12:38,933 --> 00:12:41,033 sending that off to forage samples or (indistinct). 315 00:12:41,033 --> 00:12:45,100 - We planted 100 acres of sorghum-sudan this year 316 00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:48,666 and baled it and it was a fair baling, 317 00:12:48,666 --> 00:12:51,900 but then we received some late season rains 318 00:12:51,900 --> 00:12:54,900 and we probably have more grazing regrowth 319 00:12:54,900 --> 00:12:56,900 than we did hay. - [Sam Wyffels] Hay. 320 00:12:56,900 --> 00:12:59,266 - But that's one of those crops 321 00:12:59,266 --> 00:13:01,500 that you need to wait like four or five days 322 00:13:01,500 --> 00:13:04,733 after a very hard frost before you turn in. 323 00:13:04,733 --> 00:13:06,866 You use the least liked cow method. 324 00:13:06,866 --> 00:13:07,700 - [Sam Wyffels] Yeah. - You turn 325 00:13:07,700 --> 00:13:08,533 the worst cow in there 326 00:13:08,533 --> 00:13:10,600 and if she's standing up then you turn the rest of them. 327 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:11,933 (group laughs) 328 00:13:11,933 --> 00:13:14,433 - Be careful with the sorghum-sudan and millet, 329 00:13:14,433 --> 00:13:16,100 those C4 forages, 330 00:13:16,100 --> 00:13:18,033 'cause millet especially has been 331 00:13:18,033 --> 00:13:20,600 the number one vector for Palmer amaranth 332 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,833 into North Dakota and into Montana. 333 00:13:24,833 --> 00:13:28,100 First Palmer amaranth was found at Daniels County this year, 334 00:13:28,100 --> 00:13:29,566 which was in a millet field. 335 00:13:29,566 --> 00:13:33,266 And it's those really tiny seeds are hard to clean. 336 00:13:33,266 --> 00:13:35,733 - And that is a very, very tough weed to control. 337 00:13:35,733 --> 00:13:36,633 - Yeah. 338 00:13:36,633 --> 00:13:38,266 - You know, Lon, I'm gonna pick on you a little bit. 339 00:13:38,266 --> 00:13:40,300 Gene Server, old friend of ours 340 00:13:40,300 --> 00:13:43,400 who used to be a faculty member here said 341 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,233 that you made good use of cheatgrass as a forage. 342 00:13:47,233 --> 00:13:49,133 You wanna expand on that a little bit? 343 00:13:49,133 --> 00:13:50,666 - Beggars can't be choosers. 344 00:13:50,666 --> 00:13:53,100 (group laughs) 345 00:13:53,100 --> 00:13:54,900 Cheatgrass comes and goes in our country 346 00:13:54,900 --> 00:13:56,200 and it's a function of two things. 347 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,033 It can be too much bare ground 348 00:13:58,033 --> 00:13:59,866 or you can have too much built up litter 349 00:13:59,866 --> 00:14:02,666 and create this seed bed for the cheatgrass. 350 00:14:02,666 --> 00:14:03,466 And so 351 00:14:04,766 --> 00:14:07,233 extending your grazing season 352 00:14:07,233 --> 00:14:09,866 in the front and the back of the summer 353 00:14:09,866 --> 00:14:12,133 can help you utilize cheatgrass. 354 00:14:12,133 --> 00:14:15,866 And so we have a fairly numerous pasture rotation 355 00:14:15,866 --> 00:14:19,100 and in the fall, like this last fall here, 356 00:14:19,100 --> 00:14:23,100 if the cheatgrass really germinates and comes on, 357 00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:25,633 cheatgrass doesn't seed out in the fall. 358 00:14:25,633 --> 00:14:26,933 So if things are just right, 359 00:14:26,933 --> 00:14:28,166 you can have green cheatgrass, 360 00:14:28,166 --> 00:14:31,500 which is incredibly high protein forage, for a long time. 361 00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:35,366 So we'll use every pasture except the one we're gonna use 362 00:14:35,366 --> 00:14:37,400 first the next spring. 363 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,800 - [Jack Riesselman] Okay. - You know, to and boy it, 364 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,166 now this year had a lot of challenges. 365 00:14:44,166 --> 00:14:46,633 There was a lot of light calves in our country 366 00:14:46,633 --> 00:14:50,200 and we didn't quite get our rains early enough 367 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,466 so the cheatgrass would achieve, 368 00:14:52,466 --> 00:14:54,533 calves really like eating green cheatgrass. 369 00:14:54,533 --> 00:14:56,366 They do really well on it 370 00:14:56,366 --> 00:14:57,633 but it just didn't come quick enough. 371 00:14:57,633 --> 00:14:58,633 - Yeah, okay. 372 00:14:58,633 --> 00:14:59,966 And there's a question here 373 00:14:59,966 --> 00:15:02,833 and this is obviously from Missoula. 374 00:15:02,833 --> 00:15:04,800 This person is curious 375 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,266 how much grass does it take for an average calf 376 00:15:08,266 --> 00:15:09,833 to put on a pound of grain? 377 00:15:09,833 --> 00:15:11,666 That's an interesting question. 378 00:15:11,666 --> 00:15:13,300 Anybody have an answer on that? 379 00:15:14,233 --> 00:15:15,400 - [Sam Wyffels] It depends. 380 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:17,433 (group laughs) 381 00:15:17,433 --> 00:15:18,300 Yeah, yeah, 382 00:15:18,300 --> 00:15:22,833 I mean when you're looking at high quality, 383 00:15:22,833 --> 00:15:25,600 springtime, good forage stuff, 384 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,133 but that's usually when your calves aren't grazing as much, 385 00:15:28,133 --> 00:15:30,766 they're more dependent on their moms, 386 00:15:30,766 --> 00:15:32,400 yeah, it can be very highly nutritious 387 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:34,633 and cattle can do really well on that. 388 00:15:34,633 --> 00:15:36,333 But when we get into the later fall, 389 00:15:36,333 --> 00:15:37,866 after that plant senescence 390 00:15:37,866 --> 00:15:39,600 and it's not as high in protein 391 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:40,800 and a little higher in fiber, 392 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,100 it takes a little more of that grass to put on that pound. 393 00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:47,600 So it's not a cut and dry answer, I don't think. 394 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,300 - We have problems, 395 00:15:49,300 --> 00:15:52,966 a lot of times we will forward contract our calves. 396 00:15:52,966 --> 00:15:55,766 The number one date of forward contract calves is 397 00:15:55,766 --> 00:15:57,600 around August 12th. 398 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,166 On average, your market will be best right there, 399 00:16:00,166 --> 00:16:02,366 but you never know what the fall's gonna be like. 400 00:16:02,366 --> 00:16:04,100 Are you gonna get some green grass in the fall 401 00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:05,100 or are you not? 402 00:16:05,100 --> 00:16:08,333 So guessing the weight of those calves on August 12th, 403 00:16:08,333 --> 00:16:11,400 what it's gonna be in mid to late October 404 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:12,900 and not knowing whether you're gonna have 405 00:16:12,900 --> 00:16:17,133 a high quality forage fall or not makes it difficult. 406 00:16:18,100 --> 00:16:19,633 - You know, and you say kind of, 407 00:16:19,633 --> 00:16:22,200 where do you move your calves to, Lon, 408 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,266 and at what weight do you try to move 'em out? 409 00:16:24,266 --> 00:16:27,600 - I'm a bit of a maverick on this one. 410 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,200 So we aim for our calves' weaning weights to be 411 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:32,833 about 500 pounds 412 00:16:32,833 --> 00:16:36,666 and definitely not much more and hopefully not much less. 413 00:16:36,666 --> 00:16:37,766 There seems to be 414 00:16:39,033 --> 00:16:43,033 buyers buy calves with the thought of when those calves are 415 00:16:43,033 --> 00:16:45,700 gonna be finished and ready to process. 416 00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:50,633 And having calves that become beef between 417 00:16:50,633 --> 00:16:54,033 the 20th of April and the 20th of October, 418 00:16:54,033 --> 00:16:57,300 that's a low point of the year for fat cattle prices 419 00:16:57,300 --> 00:16:59,766 and it makes people's calves that weigh 420 00:16:59,766 --> 00:17:01,833 in the mid fives to low sixes 421 00:17:02,966 --> 00:17:06,266 automatically finish at a low point in the market. 422 00:17:06,266 --> 00:17:07,400 And we've done everything, 423 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:08,666 we've retained ownership. 424 00:17:08,666 --> 00:17:10,166 This year we sold our, 425 00:17:11,166 --> 00:17:13,800 all our steer calves and one load of heifer calves 426 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,900 on Superior Livestock video in Sheridan, 427 00:17:16,900 --> 00:17:18,700 August 22nd, I think it was, 428 00:17:18,700 --> 00:17:23,200 to be delivered August 12th or October 12th, sorry. 429 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:24,966 - Okay, interesting. 430 00:17:24,966 --> 00:17:27,166 I've often wondered about that. 431 00:17:27,166 --> 00:17:29,933 This question came in a couple weeks ago. 432 00:17:29,933 --> 00:17:32,466 Do we still get a premium for? 433 00:17:32,466 --> 00:17:35,100 - Yeah. - Big calves in this state? 434 00:17:35,100 --> 00:17:37,566 - I wouldn't say we are the premium 435 00:17:37,566 --> 00:17:40,466 because the South Dakota, Nebraska, 436 00:17:40,466 --> 00:17:45,466 Western Nebraska is really close to the big sources of feed 437 00:17:45,866 --> 00:17:48,433 and those are high quality cattle. 438 00:17:48,433 --> 00:17:50,433 But over the whole nation, 439 00:17:50,433 --> 00:17:52,733 Montana really does well. 440 00:17:52,733 --> 00:17:54,266 Some, there's a big difference 441 00:17:54,266 --> 00:17:55,833 between Western Montana and Eastern Montana 442 00:17:55,833 --> 00:17:58,333 'cause the state is so large. 443 00:17:58,333 --> 00:18:01,500 So the freight from, say, Helena 444 00:18:01,500 --> 00:18:05,033 to Scottsbluff, Nebraska is a lot bigger. 445 00:18:05,033 --> 00:18:07,366 I was telling your wife that our house is 446 00:18:07,366 --> 00:18:10,000 only 410 miles from Alliance, Nebraska. 447 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,266 - [Jack Riesselman] Yeah. - And so with the cost 448 00:18:12,266 --> 00:18:13,166 of diesel and trucking, 449 00:18:13,166 --> 00:18:16,933 it's a big advantage to be closer to the big feed areas. 450 00:18:16,933 --> 00:18:18,900 - I agree, good information. 451 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:21,833 Abi, this person wants to know 452 00:18:21,833 --> 00:18:24,733 what are all those apples of varying sizes 453 00:18:24,733 --> 00:18:26,766 doing in front of you? 454 00:18:26,766 --> 00:18:27,766 - That is a good question 455 00:18:27,766 --> 00:18:29,500 and I'm glad that you brought that up. 456 00:18:29,500 --> 00:18:33,666 So Jerry Cashman gave me these apples to try. 457 00:18:33,666 --> 00:18:36,666 These are all grown in, 458 00:18:36,666 --> 00:18:38,133 here in Bozeman. 459 00:18:38,133 --> 00:18:42,566 And so one of the questions that I get asked a lot, 460 00:18:42,566 --> 00:18:45,333 because I do know what couple of these apple varieties are, 461 00:18:45,333 --> 00:18:47,700 but one of the questions that I get asked a lot is 462 00:18:47,700 --> 00:18:50,933 "How do I tell what apple variety I have?" 463 00:18:50,933 --> 00:18:53,900 Or, "Can I send this apple to somebody 464 00:18:53,900 --> 00:18:56,166 for them to be able to tell me what this is?" 465 00:18:56,166 --> 00:18:57,633 And the answer to that, 466 00:18:57,633 --> 00:19:00,600 the best way to kind of know that is 467 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,800 to go to the source of where you got that apple tree. 468 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,400 So whatever nursery that you went to, I would ask them. 469 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,133 They would know best what cultivar of apple that you have. 470 00:19:11,133 --> 00:19:14,666 And then a lot of times when you're not sure, 471 00:19:14,666 --> 00:19:16,433 or if you just wanna propagate an apple 472 00:19:16,433 --> 00:19:18,900 that you really like that's in your backyard, 473 00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:20,466 you can graft that, 474 00:19:20,466 --> 00:19:22,933 take some of the young twigs from there, 475 00:19:22,933 --> 00:19:24,333 graft that onto a new one 476 00:19:24,333 --> 00:19:27,466 and you can create a new apple 477 00:19:27,466 --> 00:19:30,900 or you can create a new tree of the same genetic variety. 478 00:19:30,900 --> 00:19:33,666 And then if you are really, really interested 479 00:19:33,666 --> 00:19:36,333 in knowing exactly what apple that you have, 480 00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:39,466 University of California has an apple genetic testing lab 481 00:19:39,466 --> 00:19:41,133 where you can submit an apple. 482 00:19:41,133 --> 00:19:43,133 I think it costs two or $300, 483 00:19:43,133 --> 00:19:45,666 but you can find out exactly what it is. 484 00:19:45,666 --> 00:19:48,000 But we have over 3,000 apple varieties, 485 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,200 so some of them can be very distinct 486 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,466 but some of them can be pretty difficult to tell 487 00:19:52,466 --> 00:19:54,000 which one's which. 488 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,600 - You know, an old friend of ours, Pete Faye, 489 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:02,100 used to make a fair amount of apple cider around here 490 00:20:02,100 --> 00:20:05,900 and his neighbor had some cows. 491 00:20:05,900 --> 00:20:06,933 And tell you what, 492 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,333 those cows like apples, there's no doubt about it. 493 00:20:11,333 --> 00:20:14,466 And they often ate too much of it, 494 00:20:14,466 --> 00:20:16,700 which wasn't pleasant but anyway, enough of that. 495 00:20:16,700 --> 00:20:19,366 - Just one. - Pete Faye's cider press 496 00:20:19,366 --> 00:20:20,200 is still running. 497 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,133 Matt and Jacy Rothschiller are out at Rocky Creek Farms, 498 00:20:23,133 --> 00:20:24,733 still run Pete's apple cider press. 499 00:20:24,733 --> 00:20:26,266 - And they make pretty good cider. 500 00:20:26,266 --> 00:20:27,733 - They do, yeah. 501 00:20:27,733 --> 00:20:29,733 - Do you have a 502 00:20:29,733 --> 00:20:33,333 recommended book for which varieties of apples 503 00:20:33,333 --> 00:20:35,233 might work in the desert? 504 00:20:35,233 --> 00:20:36,066 (Lon Reukauf laughs) 505 00:20:36,066 --> 00:20:37,066 - Well, yeah. 506 00:20:37,066 --> 00:20:39,466 Well it would be difficult to grow apples in the desert, 507 00:20:39,466 --> 00:20:42,866 but we do have really nice sets of, set of information. 508 00:20:42,866 --> 00:20:45,233 So our Western Ag Research Center, 509 00:20:45,233 --> 00:20:48,100 they, their website, MSU Extension's website, 510 00:20:48,100 --> 00:20:49,900 Google "Western Ag Research Center", 511 00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:54,933 they have a really nice set of apple varieties for Montana 512 00:20:54,933 --> 00:20:57,066 and recommendations for, you know, 513 00:20:57,066 --> 00:20:58,800 smaller scale, larger scale, 514 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:00,400 depending on how many you wanna grow. 515 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,100 But our apple experts there, 516 00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:05,200 Zach Miller, who's the superintendent there, 517 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,033 he's extremely knowledgeable 518 00:21:07,033 --> 00:21:09,000 about all of the best varieties. 519 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,000 So if there was something I'd be curious 520 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,600 to try and figure out, I would go to Zach. 521 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:15,933 - Thank you. - You're welcome. 522 00:21:15,933 --> 00:21:18,033 - All right, I have a couple questions for Lon here. 523 00:21:18,033 --> 00:21:19,200 One is a comment. 524 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,966 This came from Custer and it says, 525 00:21:21,966 --> 00:21:25,400 "Hey Lon, you got any extra grasshoppers out your way?" 526 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,433 (Jack and Lon laugh) 527 00:21:27,433 --> 00:21:28,800 - Many. 528 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:30,466 Of all the challenges we face, you know, 529 00:21:30,466 --> 00:21:32,733 we can kind of manage drought a little bit 530 00:21:32,733 --> 00:21:34,466 but the grasshopper deal, 531 00:21:34,466 --> 00:21:37,066 there's three things that control grasshoppers, 532 00:21:37,066 --> 00:21:38,533 soil type, 533 00:21:38,533 --> 00:21:41,366 your cover, how much cover you have on the soil, 534 00:21:41,366 --> 00:21:42,500 and weather, 535 00:21:42,500 --> 00:21:45,200 and about all we can manage is the cover. 536 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:46,166 And that helps. 537 00:21:46,166 --> 00:21:49,366 You can affect your grasshoppers quite a bit by the cover, 538 00:21:49,366 --> 00:21:51,200 but if the soil type and the weather are 539 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,733 against you long enough, you're gonna lose. 540 00:21:53,733 --> 00:21:56,200 - And you've had significant issues 541 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,300 with grasshoppers the past few years, correct? 542 00:21:58,300 --> 00:22:00,400 - Yeah, four times in my life 543 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,733 and probably nine times in my family's life 544 00:22:02,733 --> 00:22:06,833 we've had these several year in a row grasshopper disasters, 545 00:22:06,833 --> 00:22:08,133 you know, and 546 00:22:10,033 --> 00:22:12,600 I have a theory that I really want to push. 547 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:13,966 This is (indistinct). 548 00:22:13,966 --> 00:22:15,166 (Jack Riesselman laughs) 549 00:22:15,166 --> 00:22:17,666 An old friend of mine named Dale Brown, 550 00:22:17,666 --> 00:22:19,433 now long gone, 551 00:22:19,433 --> 00:22:22,400 he said in the '30s his dad drove around 552 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,066 an old Model A truck and he threw arsenic and bran 553 00:22:25,066 --> 00:22:27,666 out the back of his truck for grasshopper bait. 554 00:22:27,666 --> 00:22:29,866 And it was all treated with banana oil 555 00:22:29,866 --> 00:22:32,433 and he said he never could eat a banana again. 556 00:22:32,433 --> 00:22:36,633 But the idea of finding attractants for grasshoppers 557 00:22:36,633 --> 00:22:39,900 so you don't have to spray such a large area, 558 00:22:39,900 --> 00:22:42,800 if you could get these grasshoppers in a smaller zone, 559 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:46,533 'cause predator insects are a big help in grasshoppers. 560 00:22:46,533 --> 00:22:49,033 And sometimes if you spray the wrong stuff 561 00:22:49,033 --> 00:22:50,200 over a large area, 562 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,400 you wipe out your predator insects. 563 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:53,233 - Absolutely. - And you haven't helped 564 00:22:53,233 --> 00:22:54,733 yourself in the long haul. 565 00:22:54,733 --> 00:22:56,433 So that's a tough one. 566 00:22:56,433 --> 00:22:59,466 Dave Branson at the Sidney ARS station is 567 00:22:59,466 --> 00:23:01,233 kind of our grasshopper go-to guy 568 00:23:01,233 --> 00:23:03,833 and I bug him a lot, so. 569 00:23:03,833 --> 00:23:07,200 - Do any of the ranchers out in your country use Nosema? 570 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,033 - We have, but now this is interesting. 571 00:23:09,033 --> 00:23:11,866 Dave Branson schooled me on this a little. 572 00:23:11,866 --> 00:23:15,433 Nosema, there's like the sinful seven grasshoppers 573 00:23:15,433 --> 00:23:17,966 or whatever, so not every grasshopper is 574 00:23:17,966 --> 00:23:19,200 eats the same thing. 575 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,766 And there's about seven species of grasshoppers 576 00:23:21,766 --> 00:23:23,700 that can be really detrimental. 577 00:23:23,700 --> 00:23:26,266 And Nosema only works on some of them. 578 00:23:26,266 --> 00:23:28,300 So you wanna type your grasshopper 579 00:23:28,300 --> 00:23:30,033 or get somebody to help you do it 580 00:23:30,033 --> 00:23:32,533 before you invest big money into Nosema 581 00:23:32,533 --> 00:23:34,000 'cause unless you've got the right grasshoppers, 582 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,400 you know, that it's a spore that hollows the grasshopper out 583 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:39,766 from the inside out. 584 00:23:39,766 --> 00:23:41,500 And if you've got the right grasshoppers, 585 00:23:41,500 --> 00:23:42,366 it works pretty good. 586 00:23:42,366 --> 00:23:45,033 And if you don't, you're, you blew it. 587 00:23:45,033 --> 00:23:47,400 - And that's more of a long-term strategy too, right? 588 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,666 You wouldn't get immediate kind of results from Nosema. 589 00:23:49,666 --> 00:23:50,500 - It happens. - Yeah? 590 00:23:50,500 --> 00:23:52,300 - It happens faster than you think. 591 00:23:52,300 --> 00:23:54,300 - Mm-hmm. - But when I say that, 592 00:23:54,300 --> 00:23:56,033 it probably isn't gonna bail you out for this year. 593 00:23:56,033 --> 00:23:58,533 - Mm-hmm. - But you can seriously affect 594 00:23:58,533 --> 00:24:01,233 the number of grasshoppers that lay eggs, you know? 595 00:24:01,233 --> 00:24:03,633 And once your grasshopper eggs in the ground, 596 00:24:03,633 --> 00:24:06,300 only egg predators can get at that. 597 00:24:06,300 --> 00:24:08,300 Not nuclear war, nothing. 598 00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:10,733 I mean it's stuck, you know? 599 00:24:10,733 --> 00:24:14,700 But the egg predators build with the grasshopper populations 600 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:16,900 and we could talk about that for a long time. 601 00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:18,000 (group laughs) 602 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,333 It's important that you don't wreck 603 00:24:20,333 --> 00:24:22,733 your predator populations too. - Predators, absolutely. 604 00:24:22,733 --> 00:24:25,666 That's true with a lot of pests, there's no doubt about it. 605 00:24:27,300 --> 00:24:29,500 Interesting question here, 606 00:24:29,500 --> 00:24:32,700 and we throw this from, to Sam and Lon. 607 00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:36,900 Have you seen an increase in calving weight 608 00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:40,966 as we have milder winters here in the state of Montana? 609 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:44,000 - You wanna try that? 610 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:45,300 (group laughs) 611 00:24:45,300 --> 00:24:49,233 So the blood flow in your mother 612 00:24:49,233 --> 00:24:51,266 increases with the cold. 613 00:24:51,266 --> 00:24:54,566 And the theory is that as you have more blood flow 614 00:24:54,566 --> 00:24:57,333 within your mother, mom to stay warm, 615 00:24:57,333 --> 00:24:59,666 that the fetus is fed more. 616 00:24:59,666 --> 00:25:02,866 And so depending on when you get that severely cold weather, 617 00:25:03,966 --> 00:25:06,833 the theory, now, I don't know if Sam has information 618 00:25:06,833 --> 00:25:07,833 to say this is for sure, 619 00:25:07,833 --> 00:25:09,900 but the theory is when a real cold winter 620 00:25:09,900 --> 00:25:11,900 you'll have heavier birth weights. 621 00:25:12,833 --> 00:25:14,633 - Yeah, I mean I can't, 622 00:25:14,633 --> 00:25:16,766 I guess I never thought of looking at birth weights 623 00:25:16,766 --> 00:25:18,466 in relation to winter 624 00:25:18,466 --> 00:25:22,333 and then a geographic location of where winter hits, when 625 00:25:22,333 --> 00:25:23,700 across the states. 626 00:25:23,700 --> 00:25:26,733 Tricky to probably pull that out. 627 00:25:26,733 --> 00:25:29,700 But I can say that we've seen 628 00:25:29,700 --> 00:25:32,133 in the last five to seven years, 629 00:25:32,133 --> 00:25:35,466 we've seen some serious winter events across Montana, 630 00:25:35,466 --> 00:25:38,533 like I think two 100-year winter events. 631 00:25:38,533 --> 00:25:41,800 And I do know following those winter events 632 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,200 we've had serious calf mortality, you know? 633 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,200 Weak calf syndrome, a lot of sickness, 634 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:48,300 scours and issues. 635 00:25:48,300 --> 00:25:50,866 And I think a lot of that has to do with, you know, 636 00:25:50,866 --> 00:25:53,833 are we able to maintain that animal's nutrition 637 00:25:53,833 --> 00:25:56,566 to keep her energy levels up 638 00:25:56,566 --> 00:26:00,000 so she can withstand that and not stress that calf as well? 639 00:26:00,833 --> 00:26:02,233 So yeah, I don't know about birth weights, 640 00:26:02,233 --> 00:26:04,933 but I do know that when we have these bad winters 641 00:26:04,933 --> 00:26:07,533 that it does affect the health and 642 00:26:09,566 --> 00:26:11,433 mortality rates with those calves. 643 00:26:11,433 --> 00:26:13,066 - Okay. - And the 644 00:26:14,966 --> 00:26:15,933 calving a little later, 645 00:26:15,933 --> 00:26:18,400 I've never had a calf chill down inside of a cow, 646 00:26:19,466 --> 00:26:20,333 so. 647 00:26:20,333 --> 00:26:21,366 (Lon Reukauf laughs) 648 00:26:21,366 --> 00:26:22,933 - [Jack Riesselman] Alright. - So has there been 649 00:26:22,933 --> 00:26:24,833 a big shift in the state to later calving, 650 00:26:24,833 --> 00:26:28,900 later calving dates that aren't in February, in March? 651 00:26:28,900 --> 00:26:30,666 - I think what happens is you hit 652 00:26:30,666 --> 00:26:32,866 one of these really, really bad winters 653 00:26:32,866 --> 00:26:34,600 and everybody just about 654 00:26:35,633 --> 00:26:38,266 has suicidal thoughts by the end of calving. 655 00:26:38,266 --> 00:26:39,400 - [Tim Seipel] Yeah. - And so they set 656 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,433 their turnout date for their bulls back a little 657 00:26:42,433 --> 00:26:44,666 and then we hit a couple good years and they start thinking, 658 00:26:44,666 --> 00:26:46,966 "Oh well, if we can creep up a little," 659 00:26:46,966 --> 00:26:48,666 and then you get hammered again, you know? 660 00:26:48,666 --> 00:26:50,433 - That's agriculture. 661 00:26:50,433 --> 00:26:51,600 Yeah. - I've actually done 662 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,266 a couple tours across Eastern Montana, 663 00:26:54,266 --> 00:26:58,566 all the way down on the Wyoming and South Dakota 664 00:26:58,566 --> 00:27:00,833 all the way up to the Hi-Line, 665 00:27:00,833 --> 00:27:04,333 and I've noticed that as you go up north, 666 00:27:04,333 --> 00:27:05,866 just, this is just anecdotally, 667 00:27:05,866 --> 00:27:07,233 but just talking with producers, 668 00:27:07,233 --> 00:27:10,233 those calving dates creep a little later in the year. 669 00:27:10,233 --> 00:27:11,666 - Later and later. 670 00:27:11,666 --> 00:27:14,233 - The worst spring storm country in the world is 671 00:27:14,233 --> 00:27:18,166 at Black Hills and Ekalaka, 672 00:27:18,166 --> 00:27:19,000 Broadus. 673 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,633 - Yeah. - Setting your calving date 674 00:27:20,633 --> 00:27:24,033 back into April for those guys is not really a win 675 00:27:24,033 --> 00:27:26,333 'cause they get the worst April storms. 676 00:27:26,333 --> 00:27:29,833 And whereas I'm a weather watcher also, 677 00:27:29,833 --> 00:27:33,500 we don't get near the April storms that say, 678 00:27:33,500 --> 00:27:36,200 you know, Ekalaka, Baker. - Baker. 679 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:37,433 - They really get hammered. 680 00:27:37,433 --> 00:27:38,266 - Yeah. - It's almost like 681 00:27:38,266 --> 00:27:40,666 the freeway draws a line, I've noticed. 682 00:27:40,666 --> 00:27:41,500 - That's right. 683 00:27:41,500 --> 00:27:43,166 - Yeah, and you go north of that freeway, 684 00:27:43,166 --> 00:27:44,033 it's everybody. - Yeah. 685 00:27:44,033 --> 00:27:45,266 - Everybody's in April 686 00:27:45,266 --> 00:27:48,333 and those low pressures come across the middle of Wyoming 687 00:27:48,333 --> 00:27:50,766 and they wrap around to the north 688 00:27:50,766 --> 00:27:52,033 and they bring it back in. 689 00:27:52,033 --> 00:27:53,600 It hits the Beartooth, 690 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:54,966 the eastern side of the Beartooths that'll wrap 691 00:27:54,966 --> 00:27:57,166 the snow into the Beartooths something fierce. 692 00:27:57,166 --> 00:27:59,366 - [Jack Riesselman] And the Black Hills of South Dakota. 693 00:27:59,366 --> 00:28:00,200 - In South Dakota, yeah. 694 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,200 - Really get hammered in the spring, no doubt about it. 695 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,833 Okay, we are getting behind on a few questions here. 696 00:28:05,833 --> 00:28:08,200 (group laughs) 697 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,300 - Purslane in a garden, quickly, what can you do about it? 698 00:28:10,300 --> 00:28:11,533 - [Tim Seipel] Eat it. - [Abi Saeed] Eat it. 699 00:28:11,533 --> 00:28:12,366 - Eat it. 700 00:28:13,566 --> 00:28:14,666 Purslane in the garden. 701 00:28:14,666 --> 00:28:16,400 So it's a late season weed. 702 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,266 Those seeds will live forever. 703 00:28:19,266 --> 00:28:21,233 It is absolutely edible. 704 00:28:22,333 --> 00:28:23,900 Myself and Roland Ebel, 705 00:28:23,900 --> 00:28:27,033 who's in the Sustainable Foods Bioenergy Systems 706 00:28:27,033 --> 00:28:28,600 here at MSU, 707 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,800 we've fermented it and we've made pesto 708 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:35,100 and we served the pesto dip at the President's Dinner 709 00:28:35,100 --> 00:28:38,266 and everyone thought it was delicious, so. 710 00:28:38,266 --> 00:28:39,133 - [Jack Riesselman] I'm more interested 711 00:28:39,133 --> 00:28:40,166 in the fermenting process. 712 00:28:40,166 --> 00:28:41,833 (group laughs) 713 00:28:41,833 --> 00:28:44,100 Alright, thank you. 714 00:28:44,100 --> 00:28:47,333 And this is a question that I've often wondered about. 715 00:28:47,333 --> 00:28:50,566 A caller asks how many days after frost 716 00:28:50,566 --> 00:28:54,000 and the last hay cutting should producers wait 717 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,100 to graze that alfalfa safely? 718 00:28:58,766 --> 00:29:01,066 - Isn't it a little risky to graze your alfalfa 719 00:29:01,066 --> 00:29:03,866 later in the season? - After frost. 720 00:29:03,866 --> 00:29:05,933 - Right after that frost it can be deadly. 721 00:29:05,933 --> 00:29:06,733 - Right. - Yeah. 722 00:29:06,733 --> 00:29:07,900 - Like that next morning, you know? 723 00:29:07,900 --> 00:29:10,666 And it kind of depends on the regrowth a little bit. 724 00:29:10,666 --> 00:29:12,100 Like if you get a killing frost 725 00:29:12,100 --> 00:29:14,566 and your alfalfa turns brown, you're good. 726 00:29:14,566 --> 00:29:16,400 - [Sam Wyffels] Yeah. - But if it's just 727 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,466 an early flash frost and the alfalfa regrows 728 00:29:19,466 --> 00:29:21,966 and you just never know. 729 00:29:21,966 --> 00:29:24,600 - Yeah, the theory is that there's some proteins in there 730 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,333 and when the animal consumes the protein, 731 00:29:26,333 --> 00:29:29,933 it foams up in the ruminant and it causes bloat issues. 732 00:29:29,933 --> 00:29:33,100 And so you wanna graze at a point in time, 733 00:29:33,100 --> 00:29:35,300 like you say, when it turns brown after that frost, 734 00:29:35,300 --> 00:29:39,033 that those aren't viable proteins for bloat issues. 735 00:29:39,033 --> 00:29:40,066 - Yeah and I guess I was, 736 00:29:40,066 --> 00:29:42,533 I've heard that if you graze your alfalfa late 737 00:29:42,533 --> 00:29:45,000 you'll cause mortality to your alfalfa, 738 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,400 if it's still green and still a little bit actively growing 739 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,600 in those situations. 740 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:52,300 But I don't know. - Be cautious. 741 00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:53,133 - Yeah. - Yeah, it's always 742 00:29:53,133 --> 00:29:54,733 a very cautious game 743 00:29:54,733 --> 00:29:55,800 - Caller from Jordan. 744 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,500 We don't get many calls from Jordan. 745 00:29:57,500 --> 00:30:00,566 I appreciate somebody up there giving us a yell. 746 00:30:00,566 --> 00:30:01,833 They would like to know what Lon is doing 747 00:30:01,833 --> 00:30:04,166 that is successful in his grazing 748 00:30:04,166 --> 00:30:06,266 and how do you measure that success? 749 00:30:07,433 --> 00:30:08,266 - I think 750 00:30:09,666 --> 00:30:12,000 having it more sustainable, 751 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:13,366 getting through the drought 752 00:30:14,500 --> 00:30:17,700 and the amount of root depth. 753 00:30:17,700 --> 00:30:19,666 And as far as what we're doing, 754 00:30:19,666 --> 00:30:21,033 we started off, 755 00:30:21,033 --> 00:30:23,166 we have three different allotments 756 00:30:23,166 --> 00:30:25,066 and three different grazing systems. 757 00:30:25,066 --> 00:30:28,433 And we started off with kind of like three pasture systems 758 00:30:28,433 --> 00:30:30,333 and we found that that really, 759 00:30:30,333 --> 00:30:32,666 these were summertime grazing systems 760 00:30:32,666 --> 00:30:35,266 and that wasn't enough pastures. 761 00:30:35,266 --> 00:30:38,166 And so six isn't some magic number, 762 00:30:38,166 --> 00:30:42,233 it was just easiest to split three into six. 763 00:30:42,233 --> 00:30:44,633 And it made a big difference about the revegetation 764 00:30:44,633 --> 00:30:46,466 of the cow trails 765 00:30:46,466 --> 00:30:49,133 being on that land a little shorter. 766 00:30:49,133 --> 00:30:52,566 So we take a few more AUMs in a shorter time period 767 00:30:52,566 --> 00:30:54,333 and leave, you know? 768 00:30:54,333 --> 00:30:56,966 And a fairly long rest period. 769 00:30:56,966 --> 00:30:59,333 And when we get towards the back of the season, 770 00:30:59,333 --> 00:31:01,933 then we kind of assess what's out there and what's left 771 00:31:01,933 --> 00:31:04,500 and we might regraze certain pastures. 772 00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:07,233 Try to always rest 773 00:31:07,233 --> 00:31:10,933 the one that we're gonna use first the next year the most. 774 00:31:10,933 --> 00:31:15,666 So the last one in '23 will become the first one in '24. 775 00:31:16,900 --> 00:31:19,400 - Okay, good answer, thank you. 776 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:20,966 Abi, from Livingston. 777 00:31:20,966 --> 00:31:22,633 And this is an issue this fall. 778 00:31:22,633 --> 00:31:26,033 What do you need to do to get rid of all those leaves 779 00:31:26,033 --> 00:31:28,300 that fell just before the snow? 780 00:31:28,300 --> 00:31:29,700 - Yeah, so the, 781 00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:32,500 that's something that I just dealt with this week too 782 00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:34,633 once the snow melted because I, 783 00:31:34,633 --> 00:31:37,100 the snow took me by surprise a little bit 784 00:31:37,100 --> 00:31:39,633 and I didn't get to do my regular maintenance. 785 00:31:39,633 --> 00:31:42,166 But my favorite way is to use those nutrients 786 00:31:42,166 --> 00:31:44,466 from those leaves and keep them in your garden. 787 00:31:44,466 --> 00:31:47,300 And so what I would do is I mow my lawn 788 00:31:47,300 --> 00:31:48,700 over top of those leaves, 789 00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:51,366 so I'll mow those leaves to shred them a little bit. 790 00:31:51,366 --> 00:31:54,266 It helps them break down a little bit faster. 791 00:31:54,266 --> 00:31:56,300 You can also take those and shred them 792 00:31:56,300 --> 00:31:59,166 and put them on your garden beds to help mulch that 793 00:31:59,166 --> 00:32:02,066 and slowly they'll kind of decompose underneath 794 00:32:02,066 --> 00:32:03,400 the next batch of snow 795 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,833 and add those nutrients back into your soil. 796 00:32:05,833 --> 00:32:08,400 So I like to just take my lawnmower 797 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,833 on the highest setting and just mow over all those leaves 798 00:32:10,833 --> 00:32:12,600 so it distributes them. 799 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:13,400 - [Jack Riesselman] Do you bag it, then? 800 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,200 - Nope, I keep them on top of my lawn 801 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:17,733 so it adds those nutrients back in. 802 00:32:17,733 --> 00:32:19,333 - See, I have a different plan. 803 00:32:19,333 --> 00:32:21,266 - Yeah? - I cut it really short 804 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,233 and then hope the wind comes up. 805 00:32:24,233 --> 00:32:25,066 (Abi Saeed laughs) 806 00:32:25,066 --> 00:32:26,766 That blows the leaves into my neighbor's yard. 807 00:32:26,766 --> 00:32:27,633 (group laughs) 808 00:32:27,633 --> 00:32:29,866 And that's been fairly successful at times. 809 00:32:29,866 --> 00:32:32,566 Not this year, because with snow interrupted that. 810 00:32:34,533 --> 00:32:35,800 Interesting question here. 811 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:39,900 What's the difference between a Red Angus and a Black Angus? 812 00:32:41,133 --> 00:32:42,933 You wanna do that one? 813 00:32:42,933 --> 00:32:46,166 - Yeah, I mean this might not be the most popular answer 814 00:32:46,166 --> 00:32:47,566 but the color. 815 00:32:47,566 --> 00:32:48,400 (group laughs) 816 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:49,366 - I agree, yeah. 817 00:32:49,366 --> 00:32:50,600 - It's basically color, isn't it? 818 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,000 - Yeah, so Red Angus, believe it or not, is 819 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:57,066 just a recessive gene of Angus that makes them red. 820 00:32:57,066 --> 00:33:00,366 And then there's quite a few producers out there 821 00:33:00,366 --> 00:33:02,166 that have preferred that red gene 822 00:33:02,166 --> 00:33:03,766 and so they perpetuated that 823 00:33:03,766 --> 00:33:06,433 and actually made their own breed association, 824 00:33:06,433 --> 00:33:08,133 the Red Angus Association. 825 00:33:08,133 --> 00:33:11,933 But in terms of the animal itself, 826 00:33:11,933 --> 00:33:14,733 it's a recessive gene associated 827 00:33:14,733 --> 00:33:17,433 with just Angus breed in general. 828 00:33:17,433 --> 00:33:20,933 - The gene pool of the Red Angus is slightly smaller. 829 00:33:20,933 --> 00:33:23,166 It might be just a hair 830 00:33:24,466 --> 00:33:25,866 less variable. 831 00:33:25,866 --> 00:33:28,800 You know, the Black Angus gene pool these days is huge. 832 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:30,033 - [Jack Riesselman] Yes, that's true. 833 00:33:30,033 --> 00:33:31,466 - There's a lot of 'em, you know? 834 00:33:31,466 --> 00:33:35,033 And so the Red Angus might be slightly more predictable. 835 00:33:35,033 --> 00:33:36,866 - I'm, yeah, correct me if I'm wrong 836 00:33:36,866 --> 00:33:39,166 and I'm not an animal scientist by any stretch, 837 00:33:39,166 --> 00:33:41,666 but I've been told that Black Angus are 838 00:33:41,666 --> 00:33:44,833 generally slightly larger than the Red Angus, 839 00:33:44,833 --> 00:33:45,833 is that correct? 840 00:33:45,833 --> 00:33:47,133 - I don't think so. - Okay. 841 00:33:47,133 --> 00:33:49,300 - I think the (indistinct) Research Center has 842 00:33:49,300 --> 00:33:51,466 some pretty good data on that if you wanna, 843 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:54,200 I would say the opposite. 844 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:55,466 - [Jack Riesselman] Okay, I was, 845 00:33:55,466 --> 00:33:57,133 that's what I'd heard and I was just curious. 846 00:33:57,133 --> 00:33:58,566 - Yeah. - Okay. 847 00:34:02,033 --> 00:34:03,033 This is interesting. 848 00:34:03,033 --> 00:34:06,133 A Great Falls caller asked what should replace pine trees 849 00:34:06,133 --> 00:34:07,766 that have been killed by beetles? 850 00:34:09,033 --> 00:34:11,500 - Well if, yeah, if you've had issues 851 00:34:11,500 --> 00:34:13,300 with a certain type of pest 852 00:34:14,233 --> 00:34:15,800 and if you've had kill like that, 853 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,466 I would avoid replacing them with the same species. 854 00:34:19,466 --> 00:34:21,333 So if you've had, 855 00:34:21,333 --> 00:34:23,433 and I'm not sure what exact kind of beetles 856 00:34:23,433 --> 00:34:24,266 you're talking about there, 857 00:34:24,266 --> 00:34:26,700 could be a few different beetle pests, 858 00:34:26,700 --> 00:34:30,633 I would probably replace it with a different type of tree 859 00:34:30,633 --> 00:34:32,100 that works well in that soil. 860 00:34:32,100 --> 00:34:33,866 The options are pretty open. 861 00:34:33,866 --> 00:34:35,866 And so first suggested ideas, 862 00:34:35,866 --> 00:34:38,633 the first thing I tell people is to get a soil test, 863 00:34:38,633 --> 00:34:40,100 see what soil you're working with 864 00:34:40,100 --> 00:34:41,733 and then you can choose a tree 865 00:34:41,733 --> 00:34:44,400 that will work well in that type of landscape. 866 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:45,600 - Okay, thank you. 867 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,100 - Abi, what's the best, I've been, you know, 868 00:34:48,100 --> 00:34:49,000 the wind's coming up, 869 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:50,266 but I've been thinking what's the best 870 00:34:50,266 --> 00:34:53,133 shelter belt construction here in Montana? 871 00:34:53,133 --> 00:34:55,366 If we're thinking of trees or Great Falls 872 00:34:55,366 --> 00:34:57,100 where you had some pine trees die out, 873 00:34:57,100 --> 00:34:59,066 how do you put together a good shelter belt 874 00:34:59,066 --> 00:35:01,200 around your house and think about that? 875 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:02,233 - Yeah, that's a good question. 876 00:35:02,233 --> 00:35:04,500 We have, I can't off the top of my head 877 00:35:04,500 --> 00:35:05,566 think of the variety, 878 00:35:05,566 --> 00:35:10,033 but we have a really nice publication 879 00:35:10,033 --> 00:35:12,033 that talks about the species to incorporate 880 00:35:12,033 --> 00:35:13,200 in shelter belt trees. 881 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,666 And so for those kind of larger systems, 882 00:35:15,666 --> 00:35:17,966 you usually have like a larger, 883 00:35:17,966 --> 00:35:19,633 like a pine type tree 884 00:35:19,633 --> 00:35:20,633 and then people have a, 885 00:35:20,633 --> 00:35:22,433 usually a hedge in addition to that, 886 00:35:22,433 --> 00:35:25,066 like Caragana is used in shelter belts a lot, 887 00:35:25,066 --> 00:35:28,100 and then a smaller, kind of third story of plants. 888 00:35:28,100 --> 00:35:30,700 But we have a really nice publication 889 00:35:30,700 --> 00:35:33,233 so contact your county Extension agent 890 00:35:33,233 --> 00:35:35,133 and they can give you that publication 891 00:35:35,133 --> 00:35:37,166 that tells you all the different species that work well 892 00:35:37,166 --> 00:35:38,666 in a shelter belt. - [Tim Seipel] Okay. 893 00:35:38,666 --> 00:35:39,866 - [Lon Reukauf] If you want Russian olives, 894 00:35:39,866 --> 00:35:41,600 you gotta drive to Beach, North Dakota. 895 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:42,733 (group laughs) 896 00:35:42,733 --> 00:35:45,366 - We'll leave that topic for a little bit. 897 00:35:45,366 --> 00:35:47,933 - Isn't there a new Russian olive that is approved 898 00:35:47,933 --> 00:35:50,466 that is not considered a noxious? 899 00:35:50,466 --> 00:35:51,300 I think there is, 900 00:35:51,300 --> 00:35:52,800 - Well I'm not sure about that 901 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,133 but I know some people at USD ARS in Sidney are 902 00:35:56,133 --> 00:35:59,000 working on a biocontrol for Russian olive. 903 00:35:59,000 --> 00:35:59,833 - I knew that. 904 00:35:59,833 --> 00:36:01,666 - That will prevent it from making seed 905 00:36:01,666 --> 00:36:04,033 and so that we could keep the Russian olives 906 00:36:04,033 --> 00:36:05,466 that are out there 907 00:36:05,466 --> 00:36:10,466 and since they're now considered a noxious weed by some 908 00:36:10,666 --> 00:36:13,000 and they're working on a biocontrol, 909 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:14,500 I don't know if it'll be successful or not. 910 00:36:14,500 --> 00:36:15,966 - [Jack Riesselman] That may be what I'm thinking of. 911 00:36:15,966 --> 00:36:17,033 - Yeah. - You know, 912 00:36:17,033 --> 00:36:19,833 I'm gonna put a plug in for 913 00:36:19,833 --> 00:36:22,166 the Stockgrowers Association here 914 00:36:22,166 --> 00:36:24,800 and Lon's a big member, you're a member, I'm sure. 915 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,633 I'm actually a member even though I, 916 00:36:27,566 --> 00:36:30,333 but a little bit of history on the cattle industry 917 00:36:30,333 --> 00:36:31,433 in this state. 918 00:36:31,433 --> 00:36:34,700 Conrad Kohrs, and this is kind of hard to believe, 919 00:36:34,700 --> 00:36:36,800 was one of the persons that, 920 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,200 person that founded the Stockgrowers back in 1885. 921 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:41,933 You're not the oldest, 922 00:36:41,933 --> 00:36:44,066 the Wool Growers have got you by two years. 923 00:36:44,066 --> 00:36:46,300 - Yeah. - But tell us a little bit 924 00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:48,600 how the Stockgrowers came together 925 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:50,700 and what they do for Montana. 926 00:36:50,700 --> 00:36:52,766 It's a great organization, so. 927 00:36:52,766 --> 00:36:55,733 - So actually Granville Stuart, 928 00:36:55,733 --> 00:36:58,700 there was two in 1884, there was two groups. 929 00:36:58,700 --> 00:37:00,833 One was called the Montana Stockgrowers 930 00:37:00,833 --> 00:37:03,866 and one was called the Eastern Montana Stockgrowers. 931 00:37:03,866 --> 00:37:07,366 And they both come about the same time in 1884, 932 00:37:07,366 --> 00:37:09,466 four or five years before statehood. 933 00:37:09,466 --> 00:37:13,433 And they had a lot of fairly large operators 934 00:37:13,433 --> 00:37:14,966 and there was all kinds of people 935 00:37:14,966 --> 00:37:18,366 that were sort of borrowing cattle at the edges 936 00:37:18,366 --> 00:37:20,366 from these operations. 937 00:37:20,366 --> 00:37:23,666 And there were several prominent, 938 00:37:23,666 --> 00:37:26,100 fairly wealthy people like Teddy Roosevelt 939 00:37:26,100 --> 00:37:30,633 and Marquis de Morès that wanted to form 940 00:37:30,633 --> 00:37:34,033 an organization to prevent cattle rustling 941 00:37:34,033 --> 00:37:35,400 and deal with predators. 942 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:37,533 And at that time they were worried 943 00:37:37,533 --> 00:37:40,866 about the Indians being hungry and taking their cattle 944 00:37:40,866 --> 00:37:42,900 after all the buffalo had been wiped out 945 00:37:42,900 --> 00:37:46,633 to get, persecute the Indians, you might say. 946 00:37:46,633 --> 00:37:48,533 Anyway, they come together, 947 00:37:48,533 --> 00:37:50,633 one group in Helena, one in Mile City. 948 00:37:50,633 --> 00:37:54,466 The one in Mile City was April 30th, 1884. 949 00:37:54,466 --> 00:37:56,500 And so these two groups kind of communicated 950 00:37:56,500 --> 00:37:57,966 back and forth together. 951 00:37:57,966 --> 00:38:00,833 And by 1885 they were one group 952 00:38:00,833 --> 00:38:03,300 and Granville Stuart was the first 953 00:38:03,300 --> 00:38:07,166 President of Montana Stockgrowers, okay. 954 00:38:07,166 --> 00:38:09,066 And throughout all these years, 955 00:38:10,300 --> 00:38:13,133 the mission of the Stockgrowers is pretty much to be 956 00:38:13,133 --> 00:38:18,133 cattle raisers' and range land users' lobbying arm in Helena 957 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:21,000 during state legislature. 958 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,466 And then there's all kinds of educational opportunities 959 00:38:23,466 --> 00:38:24,566 with Stockgrowers. 960 00:38:24,566 --> 00:38:26,800 When we have our convention, we have what are called 961 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,033 Cattlemen's Colleges, 962 00:38:29,033 --> 00:38:30,066 and I think this year we have 963 00:38:30,066 --> 00:38:32,566 12 different Cattlemen's Colleges 964 00:38:32,566 --> 00:38:35,866 and you can go and attend an hour-long session 965 00:38:35,866 --> 00:38:38,300 and ask questions about the topic of your choice. 966 00:38:40,366 --> 00:38:43,633 And we have a staff of six I think. 967 00:38:43,633 --> 00:38:47,733 And so if you need help with land management issues, 968 00:38:47,733 --> 00:38:50,166 the Stockgrowers can be pretty active, 969 00:38:50,166 --> 00:38:51,933 we have a legal fund that we use 970 00:38:51,933 --> 00:38:55,833 to help people out if we feel that the members 971 00:38:55,833 --> 00:38:59,800 want to pursue that avenue of helping someone out, so. 972 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:01,833 - [Jack Riesselman] Okay, good organization. 973 00:39:01,833 --> 00:39:03,066 - Yeah. 974 00:39:03,066 --> 00:39:04,366 If you are interested, 975 00:39:04,366 --> 00:39:07,500 you could text beef, those four letters 976 00:39:07,500 --> 00:39:11,033 to this 855-965-4006. 977 00:39:11,033 --> 00:39:12,666 You don't have to be a member, 978 00:39:12,666 --> 00:39:15,766 but you'll get a text back about once a week maybe 979 00:39:15,766 --> 00:39:17,466 for what the Stockgrowers think is going on 980 00:39:17,466 --> 00:39:19,000 in the cattle industry. 981 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,466 - Those meetings are really great meetings too. 982 00:39:21,466 --> 00:39:24,133 They have a great trade show. - Yeah. 983 00:39:24,133 --> 00:39:26,066 - A lot of producers from around the state are there 984 00:39:26,066 --> 00:39:28,766 so you get a lot of producer interaction. 985 00:39:29,733 --> 00:39:30,566 Yeah and they, you know, 986 00:39:30,566 --> 00:39:32,533 they really keep everybody up to speed 987 00:39:32,533 --> 00:39:35,033 what's going on with beef and the politics 988 00:39:35,033 --> 00:39:36,633 and everything else. 989 00:39:36,633 --> 00:39:39,633 And just natural resource management even, 990 00:39:39,633 --> 00:39:41,866 so there's a lot of great stuff that happens there. 991 00:39:41,866 --> 00:39:43,300 - [Lon Reukauf] Cheatgrass management. 992 00:39:43,300 --> 00:39:44,133 - Yeah. 993 00:39:44,133 --> 00:39:44,966 (group laughs) 994 00:39:44,966 --> 00:39:45,866 - [Jack Riesselman] Cheat, okay. 995 00:39:45,866 --> 00:39:47,700 - And the Stockgrowers policy is 996 00:39:47,700 --> 00:39:49,966 has to be done by the members. 997 00:39:49,966 --> 00:39:52,566 So I'm on the board of directors for the Stockgrowers 998 00:39:52,566 --> 00:39:55,966 and we meet five, six times a year. 999 00:39:55,966 --> 00:39:57,433 But we cannot 1000 00:39:58,433 --> 00:40:02,433 set down a policy that the members don't approve 1001 00:40:02,433 --> 00:40:04,500 at the next annual convention. 1002 00:40:04,500 --> 00:40:08,166 So the board of directors and the leadership, 1003 00:40:08,166 --> 00:40:10,666 president, vice president, second vice, 1004 00:40:10,666 --> 00:40:12,600 we don't set policy. 1005 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,866 We follow policy but we're not the drivers, 1006 00:40:15,866 --> 00:40:16,933 the membership is. 1007 00:40:16,933 --> 00:40:18,066 - Okay, and that's good. 1008 00:40:18,066 --> 00:40:18,900 I like that. 1009 00:40:19,966 --> 00:40:21,333 I'm gonna come back to you in a minute 1010 00:40:21,333 --> 00:40:22,800 'cause I'm curious about these books. 1011 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,933 Before that, Tim, 1012 00:40:24,933 --> 00:40:28,300 what's a good way to manage Russian thistle post harvest? 1013 00:40:28,300 --> 00:40:30,633 Russian thistle's a big problem in the state 1014 00:40:30,633 --> 00:40:32,733 and it's a good forage, I'm told. 1015 00:40:32,733 --> 00:40:33,566 - Oh really? 1016 00:40:33,566 --> 00:40:34,400 I didn't know that. 1017 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:36,600 I only know it in its spiny ball form. 1018 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:37,433 (group laughs) 1019 00:40:37,433 --> 00:40:38,966 Once it gets a little bit bigger. 1020 00:40:38,966 --> 00:40:41,533 Yeah, after you take crops off a lot of times, 1021 00:40:41,533 --> 00:40:45,066 especially winter wheat or some of spring wheat, 1022 00:40:45,066 --> 00:40:48,333 you can get a big flush of Russian thistle 1023 00:40:48,333 --> 00:40:49,833 or it may have been down there 1024 00:40:49,833 --> 00:40:51,233 and then when you take it, 1025 00:40:51,233 --> 00:40:52,800 take everything off with the combine, 1026 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:54,733 it opens up the space for it. 1027 00:40:54,733 --> 00:40:55,666 Post-harvest, 1028 00:40:56,733 --> 00:41:01,033 a lot of people recommend a herbicide called Kochiavore. 1029 00:41:01,033 --> 00:41:04,533 It eats kochia and it's Bromoxynil, 2, 4-D 1030 00:41:04,533 --> 00:41:06,900 and Fluroxypyr, that's one of them. 1031 00:41:06,900 --> 00:41:09,666 Another is just two, 1032 00:41:09,666 --> 00:41:11,900 having 2, 4-D and Sharpen together, 1033 00:41:11,900 --> 00:41:14,666 and Sharpen's used a lot in pulse crops. 1034 00:41:14,666 --> 00:41:16,733 If you have the next year in your pulse crops, 1035 00:41:16,733 --> 00:41:19,033 Prowl and Outlook are, 1036 00:41:19,033 --> 00:41:21,100 tend to be a really good combination 1037 00:41:21,100 --> 00:41:23,966 for getting the kochia and the Russian thistle. 1038 00:41:23,966 --> 00:41:25,800 - All right, thank you, mm-hmm. 1039 00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:27,166 I always ask for comments. 1040 00:41:27,166 --> 00:41:28,633 - [Tim Seipel] That was a weed science question. 1041 00:41:28,633 --> 00:41:29,800 - Yes it was. 1042 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:31,466 (group laughs) 1043 00:41:31,466 --> 00:41:33,633 And that's why I like to call you a weed scientist. 1044 00:41:33,633 --> 00:41:35,133 - Yeah, there you go. 1045 00:41:35,133 --> 00:41:37,966 - Okay, you'll get a kick outta this one, Lon. 1046 00:41:39,033 --> 00:41:41,533 Lon, this caller from Glasgow says 1047 00:41:41,533 --> 00:41:45,633 that in 1967 they went to a barn dance 1048 00:41:45,633 --> 00:41:49,366 at the Reukauf Ranch the night before he went to Vietnam. 1049 00:41:49,366 --> 00:41:51,400 Do you still have barn dances? 1050 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:52,633 - Yes we do. 1051 00:41:52,633 --> 00:41:53,633 (group laughs) 1052 00:41:53,633 --> 00:41:55,533 You gotta bring your own booze. 1053 00:41:55,533 --> 00:41:56,866 (group laughs) 1054 00:41:56,866 --> 00:41:58,866 - Sounds like a big party. 1055 00:41:58,866 --> 00:41:59,700 - It's fun. 1056 00:41:59,700 --> 00:42:02,266 - Okay, now you know the answer. 1057 00:42:02,266 --> 00:42:03,500 Another question. 1058 00:42:04,933 --> 00:42:06,966 From Missoula, just simple question 1059 00:42:06,966 --> 00:42:09,133 and I don't know the answer to this either. 1060 00:42:10,033 --> 00:42:12,300 How long does a cow, 1061 00:42:12,300 --> 00:42:13,433 an average cow, 1062 00:42:16,133 --> 00:42:18,733 useful would be a way to put it? 1063 00:42:18,733 --> 00:42:21,300 How long can you use one? 1064 00:42:21,300 --> 00:42:23,366 - That's an interesting question. 1065 00:42:23,366 --> 00:42:26,400 And you know, we actually just did a research project 1066 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,400 on some of this looking at lifetime productivity of cattle 1067 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,100 and can we find some metrics within a cow herd 1068 00:42:32,100 --> 00:42:35,700 that relate to how long that cow stays productive 1069 00:42:35,700 --> 00:42:38,200 as a heifer into the system? 1070 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:40,433 And one of the things that we found in, 1071 00:42:40,433 --> 00:42:43,766 and this is kind of one of those no-brainer type things, 1072 00:42:43,766 --> 00:42:45,600 is that as some of the heifer calves 1073 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:49,200 out of older cows in the herd stay in the herd longer, 1074 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:51,666 which you would think that those older cows 1075 00:42:51,666 --> 00:42:56,000 in that group have essentially proven themselves 1076 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:57,033 in that environment 1077 00:42:57,033 --> 00:43:00,166 and based off of the management that producer operates, 1078 00:43:00,166 --> 00:43:03,000 and so that's one thing we found. 1079 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:07,366 But I will say that research literature usually presents 1080 00:43:07,366 --> 00:43:09,966 that you'll find about age eight or 10 1081 00:43:09,966 --> 00:43:14,133 that the productivity of that cow is gonna start declining. 1082 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:17,133 That doesn't mean that she's not producing a calf, 1083 00:43:17,133 --> 00:43:19,766 it's just maybe her calves aren't as big as they were 1084 00:43:19,766 --> 00:43:22,000 when she was a four through six year old. 1085 00:43:23,433 --> 00:43:25,366 But I know there's folks out there that have 1086 00:43:25,366 --> 00:43:27,733 14 year old cows that are still in the herd 1087 00:43:27,733 --> 00:43:30,033 and still producing calves every year, 1088 00:43:30,033 --> 00:43:33,333 so it kind of depends on a producer by producer management 1089 00:43:33,333 --> 00:43:35,900 on how they want to manage their calf crop 1090 00:43:35,900 --> 00:43:36,766 and their genetics, 1091 00:43:36,766 --> 00:43:38,933 but they can be in there for a while. 1092 00:43:38,933 --> 00:43:41,400 - So with calf or cow numbers down, 1093 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,000 I think they're starting to rebound a little bit if I, 1094 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:45,933 my information's correct, 1095 00:43:45,933 --> 00:43:49,166 did we get rid of a lot of the older calves or cows? 1096 00:43:50,266 --> 00:43:52,833 - I think this year there was a significant 1097 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:56,766 part of Montana where we'd been hanging onto 1098 00:43:56,766 --> 00:43:58,500 these old cows for a while 1099 00:43:58,500 --> 00:44:02,400 and this grasshopper deal really hammered the older cows 1100 00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:03,800 'cause they're doing fine 1101 00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:06,000 as long as conditions are pretty good. 1102 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,000 But boy, when things get tough, 1103 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,400 your poor old cows really have trouble. 1104 00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:13,466 And so we had a, 1105 00:44:13,466 --> 00:44:17,700 the highest failure to breed rate in our cow herd 1106 00:44:17,700 --> 00:44:19,666 that we've ever had this fall. 1107 00:44:19,666 --> 00:44:20,566 And it was because 1108 00:44:21,833 --> 00:44:26,200 we sold a significant number of cows that were from 10 to 13 1109 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:29,033 and we didn't have many young cows that were dry. 1110 00:44:29,033 --> 00:44:31,500 But those older cows, when the going got tough, 1111 00:44:31,500 --> 00:44:33,766 it was hard on them. - Okay. 1112 00:44:35,900 --> 00:44:39,300 Those books, Lon, quickly tell us about those 1113 00:44:39,300 --> 00:44:42,366 'cause I got a bunch more questions coming up. 1114 00:44:42,366 --> 00:44:45,633 - I got these books off of C-SPAN. 1115 00:44:45,633 --> 00:44:47,033 I watch C-SPAN once in a while 1116 00:44:47,033 --> 00:44:49,000 and they interviewed this author 1117 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:50,666 and there are two books. 1118 00:44:50,666 --> 00:44:54,900 "1491" is about what North and South America 1119 00:44:54,900 --> 00:44:57,633 and some of the Old World were like 1120 00:44:57,633 --> 00:44:59,433 before Columbus connected them. 1121 00:44:59,433 --> 00:45:00,400 And there's a term for that. 1122 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,200 It's called the Columbian Exchange, 1123 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,000 what happened when Columbus connected 1124 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:07,333 the Old and New World and how things changed. 1125 00:45:08,300 --> 00:45:10,300 They're very extensive books. 1126 00:45:10,300 --> 00:45:12,833 And this Charles Mann, the author, 1127 00:45:12,833 --> 00:45:17,266 just compiled a lot of information from 1128 00:45:17,266 --> 00:45:20,366 and anthropologists about that. 1129 00:45:20,366 --> 00:45:23,800 And so a lot of people don't realize 1130 00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:26,666 how numerous and how, 1131 00:45:26,666 --> 00:45:29,700 what huge societies the Indigenous peoples 1132 00:45:29,700 --> 00:45:32,066 in North and South America actually had. 1133 00:45:32,066 --> 00:45:32,900 - [Tim Seipel] Yeah. 1134 00:45:32,900 --> 00:45:34,966 - You know, it was accepted doctrine 1135 00:45:34,966 --> 00:45:36,900 for a long time that the Indians, 1136 00:45:36,900 --> 00:45:39,766 there was just a few Indians here and a few Indians there 1137 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:41,700 and, but that wasn't the way it was. 1138 00:45:41,700 --> 00:45:44,200 They were incredible societies. 1139 00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:47,633 And so I would urge everyone to read these books. 1140 00:45:47,633 --> 00:45:49,700 There's a lot of eye-opening stuff there 1141 00:45:50,766 --> 00:45:51,600 that 1142 00:45:53,166 --> 00:45:55,000 challenge orthodoxy 1143 00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:58,433 that was in college in the '70s when I was there. 1144 00:45:59,500 --> 00:46:00,933 - I'll back up Lon on that one. 1145 00:46:00,933 --> 00:46:03,866 "1491" is one of my favorite books, actually, 1146 00:46:03,866 --> 00:46:06,033 and partially because of the descriptions 1147 00:46:06,033 --> 00:46:08,833 of using biochar in the Amazon, 1148 00:46:08,833 --> 00:46:11,066 all about a lot of the agriculture 1149 00:46:11,066 --> 00:46:12,833 that went on in the Americas. 1150 00:46:12,833 --> 00:46:15,666 You know, the Americas had amazing plants. 1151 00:46:15,666 --> 00:46:17,966 When we think of potatoes, tomatoes, 1152 00:46:17,966 --> 00:46:20,666 chilies, corn, beans, 1153 00:46:20,666 --> 00:46:22,533 those all were from the Americas 1154 00:46:22,533 --> 00:46:25,766 and all domesticated by the Indigenous societies here. 1155 00:46:25,766 --> 00:46:26,633 - [Jack Riesselman] That's fascinating. 1156 00:46:26,633 --> 00:46:27,833 - [Tim Seipel] Yeah. 1157 00:46:27,833 --> 00:46:28,666 - [Jack Riesselman] I'm, I have not read it 1158 00:46:28,666 --> 00:46:29,500 but now you've convinced me. 1159 00:46:29,500 --> 00:46:32,200 - [Lon Reukauf] Yeah. - I'm gonna have to read that. 1160 00:46:33,766 --> 00:46:36,000 A couple other questions here. 1161 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:38,400 A comment from Conrad, first. 1162 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:40,766 A retired Stockgrowers thinks the group 1163 00:46:40,766 --> 00:46:44,100 or thanks the group for the best show he has seen lately. 1164 00:46:44,100 --> 00:46:45,300 So that's this week's. 1165 00:46:45,300 --> 00:46:46,466 (group laughs) 1166 00:46:46,466 --> 00:46:47,300 Thanks. 1167 00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:52,400 This is interesting. 1168 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:54,733 Bozeman caller asked what Lon's 1169 00:46:54,733 --> 00:46:57,300 and/or the general Stockgrowers' opinions are 1170 00:46:57,300 --> 00:47:01,300 on populations of coyotes in Eastern Montana, 1171 00:47:01,300 --> 00:47:03,300 more or less are about the same? 1172 00:47:03,300 --> 00:47:04,766 Do you have an issue with them? 1173 00:47:04,766 --> 00:47:05,700 - We do. 1174 00:47:05,700 --> 00:47:09,633 And this year was an excellent year for young pup coyotes. 1175 00:47:09,633 --> 00:47:12,366 The grasshopper thing is really good for the coyotes 1176 00:47:12,366 --> 00:47:14,533 'cause the young pups get all they want to eat 1177 00:47:14,533 --> 00:47:16,566 of a really high protein food. 1178 00:47:16,566 --> 00:47:17,500 So the survival, 1179 00:47:17,500 --> 00:47:22,033 and then coyote females respond in a big way 1180 00:47:22,033 --> 00:47:24,066 to the food that they eat. 1181 00:47:24,066 --> 00:47:27,600 My son shot a female coyote 1182 00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:30,833 off of a cow that was calving this spring 1183 00:47:30,833 --> 00:47:33,733 and that female had seven pups inside of her. 1184 00:47:33,733 --> 00:47:35,766 And that's just, you know, 1185 00:47:35,766 --> 00:47:38,800 in the past, two or three would be normal. 1186 00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:41,600 And so these coyotes, we've got a lot of wildlife, 1187 00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:42,900 we've got a lot of birds. 1188 00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:44,833 The coyotes get to eat really well 1189 00:47:44,833 --> 00:47:47,033 and so their reproduction amps up. 1190 00:47:47,033 --> 00:47:48,733 - Yeah, ramps up, I agree. 1191 00:47:48,733 --> 00:47:50,833 We have another question here similar to that 1192 00:47:50,833 --> 00:47:53,200 but before we go to that from Billings, 1193 00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:56,166 the caller wants to move some chokecherry trees. 1194 00:47:56,166 --> 00:47:59,833 When is the best time to transplant them, spring or fall? 1195 00:47:59,833 --> 00:48:02,100 - I like to say spring. 1196 00:48:02,100 --> 00:48:04,400 Spring is my favorite time to transplant. 1197 00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:06,233 You can do it in the fall. 1198 00:48:06,233 --> 00:48:07,300 If I'm doing it in the fall, 1199 00:48:07,300 --> 00:48:10,200 I usually wait until they're dormant to do it 1200 00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:11,066 'cause those soil, 1201 00:48:11,066 --> 00:48:14,133 the roots are still gonna grow before that soil is frozen. 1202 00:48:14,133 --> 00:48:16,766 But I like to air, aim for the spring. 1203 00:48:16,766 --> 00:48:18,566 I think it gives them the best shot 1204 00:48:18,566 --> 00:48:21,566 for really establishing well during that year 1205 00:48:21,566 --> 00:48:22,933 going into another winter. 1206 00:48:22,933 --> 00:48:28,100 So I would say wait until the soils warm up in the spring. 1207 00:48:28,100 --> 00:48:31,933 - Why can't we get more chokecherries? 1208 00:48:31,933 --> 00:48:35,166 We, I know they robins do a big number on 'em, 1209 00:48:35,166 --> 00:48:37,433 but there's a worm that gets in 'em too. 1210 00:48:37,433 --> 00:48:39,166 - Yeah, there's a fly, 1211 00:48:39,166 --> 00:48:43,900 there's a type of fly larvae that will attack them too. 1212 00:48:43,900 --> 00:48:45,533 And sometimes, you know, 1213 00:48:45,533 --> 00:48:49,666 lots of critters will eat that fruit because it's tasty. 1214 00:48:49,666 --> 00:48:50,500 - [Jack Riesselman] It's tough to make 1215 00:48:50,500 --> 00:48:52,266 chokecherry wine anymore, I know that. 1216 00:48:52,266 --> 00:48:53,366 - Yeah, absolutely. 1217 00:48:53,366 --> 00:48:54,300 - So I have chokecherries and I have 1218 00:48:54,300 --> 00:48:58,266 one chokecherry tree and the birds pick it completely clean. 1219 00:48:58,266 --> 00:48:59,666 And the other chokecherry tree, 1220 00:48:59,666 --> 00:49:02,133 they don't eat as much off of 1221 00:49:02,133 --> 00:49:03,433 and I can't figure out, 1222 00:49:03,433 --> 00:49:05,033 maybe it's the position of where it's at, 1223 00:49:05,033 --> 00:49:06,100 something like that. 1224 00:49:06,100 --> 00:49:09,033 But we did make some nice chokecherry syrup this year, 1225 00:49:09,033 --> 00:49:10,766 but I had to cut it with flathead cherries 1226 00:49:10,766 --> 00:49:12,400 because that taste, 1227 00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:13,266 the almond-y. 1228 00:49:14,700 --> 00:49:15,600 - [Jack Riesselman] Rosin-y, yeah. 1229 00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:18,833 - Yeah, was, it was pretty serious. 1230 00:49:18,833 --> 00:49:23,533 - Okay, a question from Facebook for Lon, 1231 00:49:23,533 --> 00:49:25,266 what opportunities does he see 1232 00:49:25,266 --> 00:49:29,366 for developing partnerships with Fish, Wildlife and Parks 1233 00:49:29,366 --> 00:49:31,966 for the purpose of achieving shared objectives 1234 00:49:31,966 --> 00:49:35,333 for rangeland and wildlife conservation? 1235 00:49:35,333 --> 00:49:37,900 You could talk for hours on that but time's getting low. 1236 00:49:37,900 --> 00:49:39,266 (group laughs) 1237 00:49:39,266 --> 00:49:41,533 - We are one of the first participants 1238 00:49:41,533 --> 00:49:44,633 in Fish, Wildlife and Parks Block Management Program. 1239 00:49:44,633 --> 00:49:48,800 And there's several ranches that are our neighbors 1240 00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:52,766 and we have the largest block management area in the state. 1241 00:49:52,766 --> 00:49:57,400 And I believe there's nine or 10 ranches in this area 1242 00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:00,900 and we all band together to negotiate 1243 00:50:00,900 --> 00:50:02,666 with Fish, Wildlife and Parks 1244 00:50:02,666 --> 00:50:06,133 about the compensation and the way the land's gonna be used. 1245 00:50:06,133 --> 00:50:07,966 And one of our deals is 1246 00:50:07,966 --> 00:50:11,033 we are getting a big elk herd, believe it or not, and. 1247 00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:14,066 - [Jack Riesselman] You shouldn't say that here. 1248 00:50:14,066 --> 00:50:15,733 - I, we'd like to, 1249 00:50:15,733 --> 00:50:17,833 I just wish that we didn't have so many. 1250 00:50:19,033 --> 00:50:20,633 And I was telling the panel earlier 1251 00:50:20,633 --> 00:50:23,266 that they leave 1252 00:50:23,266 --> 00:50:24,366 on Columbus Day 1253 00:50:24,366 --> 00:50:25,933 and they come home for Thanksgiving 1254 00:50:25,933 --> 00:50:29,066 and that's when the rifle season is. 1255 00:50:29,066 --> 00:50:31,466 And so one of the big problems 1256 00:50:31,466 --> 00:50:33,633 that the Stockgrowers goes around and around with 1257 00:50:33,633 --> 00:50:36,500 on this elk deal is 1258 00:50:36,500 --> 00:50:40,133 how do you get the hunters where you need 'em to be 1259 00:50:40,133 --> 00:50:42,200 to harvest the elk, you know? 1260 00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:46,166 'Cause a lot of people have an aversion to having 1261 00:50:46,166 --> 00:50:49,333 unknown folks walking around with high powered rifles, 1262 00:50:49,333 --> 00:50:51,866 and some people want to keep the elk for themselves. 1263 00:50:51,866 --> 00:50:55,266 And then those of us that have hay fields and stuff 1264 00:50:55,266 --> 00:50:56,533 that the elk camp on, 1265 00:50:56,533 --> 00:50:59,766 we'd like to run a lot more mule deer and less elk. 1266 00:50:59,766 --> 00:51:00,700 - [Jack Riesselman] Okay. - And that, 1267 00:51:00,700 --> 00:51:02,633 and we could run probably more antelope, 1268 00:51:02,633 --> 00:51:05,266 but elk are just a large animal. 1269 00:51:05,266 --> 00:51:07,633 They eat a lot and they break a lot of things. 1270 00:51:07,633 --> 00:51:10,400 - I've been told that, no doubt about that. 1271 00:51:12,466 --> 00:51:14,633 Interesting question from Bozeman here. 1272 00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:20,900 I'll let Sam and/or Lon do this one. 1273 00:51:20,900 --> 00:51:23,366 Is there a breed of cattle that is 1274 00:51:23,366 --> 00:51:27,033 better suited to finish on grass? 1275 00:51:29,766 --> 00:51:32,066 - I like these questions. - I think so. 1276 00:51:32,066 --> 00:51:34,700 - But, and more than the breed, it's the frame size. 1277 00:51:35,866 --> 00:51:38,166 Larger animals, you know, 1278 00:51:38,166 --> 00:51:39,900 do way better on corn 1279 00:51:39,900 --> 00:51:43,666 and smaller framed animals will develop a fat cover 1280 00:51:43,666 --> 00:51:47,133 because they reach the peak of their growth curve 1281 00:51:47,133 --> 00:51:49,900 a little younger and a little smaller. 1282 00:51:49,900 --> 00:51:53,700 So we sell, our ranch sells some grass-fed hamburger 1283 00:51:53,700 --> 00:51:56,866 and we use 1284 00:51:56,866 --> 00:51:59,900 almost all young females that lose a calf. 1285 00:51:59,900 --> 00:52:03,200 And then about mid-July, 1286 00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:07,600 we'll take those to a federally-inspected 1287 00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:09,600 so we can sell packages of hamburger. 1288 00:52:10,966 --> 00:52:13,500 And, but I, 1289 00:52:13,500 --> 00:52:16,066 your last show had Dave Mannix talking about 1290 00:52:16,066 --> 00:52:20,533 their grass-fed program and he explained that really well, 1291 00:52:20,533 --> 00:52:22,566 how they do that and how it takes 1292 00:52:22,566 --> 00:52:25,266 a little longer and you gotta time the grass just right. 1293 00:52:25,266 --> 00:52:26,566 It's a lot to it. 1294 00:52:26,566 --> 00:52:27,400 - Yeah, I wouldn't necessarily say 1295 00:52:27,400 --> 00:52:29,966 there's like a breed per se that would be better. 1296 00:52:29,966 --> 00:52:31,066 I mean there's certainly breeds 1297 00:52:31,066 --> 00:52:32,500 you wouldn't want to try to grass. 1298 00:52:32,500 --> 00:52:34,133 - [Lon Reukauf] Yeah. - Finish on. 1299 00:52:34,133 --> 00:52:36,700 But I think it has to do more, like you said, 1300 00:52:36,700 --> 00:52:38,166 the frame size of those cattle, 1301 00:52:38,166 --> 00:52:39,633 what their growth rates are, 1302 00:52:39,633 --> 00:52:42,433 what kind of growth curve you're looking at. 1303 00:52:42,433 --> 00:52:45,166 Certainly there's some smaller breeds of cattle 1304 00:52:45,166 --> 00:52:46,633 that would maybe 1305 00:52:47,733 --> 00:52:49,733 be quicker on grass maybe, 1306 00:52:49,733 --> 00:52:52,633 but yeah, mostly it's just a time thing, 1307 00:52:52,633 --> 00:52:55,566 making sure that you have enough time on grass 1308 00:52:55,566 --> 00:52:57,100 and time that grass just right 1309 00:52:57,100 --> 00:52:59,733 to get your growth curves where you want 'em. 1310 00:52:59,733 --> 00:53:00,466 - Good answer. 1311 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:03,733 I'm gonna come back to Lon in a minute. 1312 00:53:03,733 --> 00:53:04,566 Before we do that, 1313 00:53:04,566 --> 00:53:07,800 I'm gonna plug one other thing here for MSU. 1314 00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:10,166 It's called the OLLI Program, 1315 00:53:10,166 --> 00:53:15,166 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute here at 1316 00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:16,500 If you're interested, 1317 00:53:16,500 --> 00:53:19,666 people I believe over 55 qualify for this program. 1318 00:53:19,666 --> 00:53:22,400 They have some excellent, excellent opportunities 1319 00:53:22,400 --> 00:53:24,966 for continuing education. 1320 00:53:24,966 --> 00:53:26,900 If you're interested, go online 1321 00:53:26,900 --> 00:53:28,300 and look up OLLI. 1322 00:53:28,300 --> 00:53:29,600 It's a great program. 1323 00:53:31,366 --> 00:53:32,733 Environmental stewardship, 1324 00:53:33,700 --> 00:53:35,766 great program that ranchers have. 1325 00:53:35,766 --> 00:53:37,400 We don't have a lot of time. 1326 00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:40,300 Tell us Lon, I know you were a winner in '19. 1327 00:53:40,300 --> 00:53:42,333 - 2016. - 2016, 1328 00:53:42,333 --> 00:53:45,400 Dave Mannix or Mannix Brother Ranch this year. 1329 00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:47,133 Tell us about that real briefly. 1330 00:53:48,166 --> 00:53:50,166 - This is a program that we put together 1331 00:53:50,166 --> 00:53:51,366 to try to highlight 1332 00:53:53,800 --> 00:53:56,133 stewards of the land that we think are doing 1333 00:53:56,133 --> 00:53:57,766 a really positive job. 1334 00:53:57,766 --> 00:54:00,166 And the environmental stewardship program has 1335 00:54:00,166 --> 00:54:01,333 a twofold deal. 1336 00:54:01,333 --> 00:54:06,266 We try to invite people to go on a in-person tour 1337 00:54:06,266 --> 00:54:08,700 and we try to pick like media people, 1338 00:54:09,566 --> 00:54:13,433 or this year we tried to focus them on dieticians, 1339 00:54:13,433 --> 00:54:16,433 different people in different phases of education 1340 00:54:17,333 --> 00:54:21,966 to let 'em see just exactly how your beef comes about 1341 00:54:21,966 --> 00:54:24,033 and how it's grown. 1342 00:54:24,033 --> 00:54:26,600 And so the other half of that is 1343 00:54:26,600 --> 00:54:30,300 we try to do all kinds of videos on the actual tour. 1344 00:54:30,300 --> 00:54:31,866 So if you aren't on the tour, 1345 00:54:31,866 --> 00:54:36,866 you can access the video via YouTube or the MSGA website. 1346 00:54:37,333 --> 00:54:39,800 It's mtbeef.org, I think. 1347 00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:43,000 And so that's why the program was developed. 1348 00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:45,566 There's a small amount of checkoff money 1349 00:54:45,566 --> 00:54:47,933 that helps fund this. 1350 00:54:47,933 --> 00:54:49,966 The majority of it comes from 1351 00:54:49,966 --> 00:54:52,100 the Montana Stockgrowers Foundation, 1352 00:54:52,100 --> 00:54:54,933 which is different than Montana Stockgrowers, 1353 00:54:54,933 --> 00:54:57,800 and the GLCI kicks in a little money, so. 1354 00:54:57,800 --> 00:54:59,166 - You know, I got invited this year 1355 00:54:59,166 --> 00:55:00,666 and I absolutely enjoyed it. 1356 00:55:00,666 --> 00:55:03,766 And I'm old enough that I can still learn 1357 00:55:03,766 --> 00:55:04,866 a little bit here and there. 1358 00:55:04,866 --> 00:55:06,466 Actually, I learned a lot. 1359 00:55:06,466 --> 00:55:08,033 So that's great, folks, we're getting down 1360 00:55:08,033 --> 00:55:09,600 to an end of another fun program. 1361 00:55:09,600 --> 00:55:10,433 (country music plays) 1362 00:55:10,433 --> 00:55:12,766 I wanna thank Lon for coming over, 1363 00:55:12,766 --> 00:55:14,166 Abi, Tim, 1364 00:55:14,166 --> 00:55:15,333 and of course Sam. 1365 00:55:15,333 --> 00:55:17,100 I didn't pick on you very much tonight. 1366 00:55:17,100 --> 00:55:20,066 Usually the person next to me gets picked on. 1367 00:55:20,066 --> 00:55:23,033 Next week, our guest is gonna be Tara Mastel. 1368 00:55:23,033 --> 00:55:25,700 She's kind of a community development specialist 1369 00:55:25,700 --> 00:55:28,166 working on rural Montana communities. 1370 00:55:28,166 --> 00:55:30,400 I think you'll enjoy that program a lot. 1371 00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:32,700 Thanks again, see you next week, goodnight. 1372 00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:36,300 - [Narrator] For more information and resources, 1373 00:55:36,300 --> 00:55:41,133 visit Montanapbs.org/aglive. 1374 00:55:41,133 --> 00:55:44,633 (country music continues) 1375 00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:14,233 - [Narrator 2] Montana Ag Live is made possible by 1376 00:56:14,233 --> 00:56:16,200 the Montana Department of Agriculture, 1377 00:56:17,700 --> 00:56:18,966 MSU Extension, 1378 00:56:20,800 --> 00:56:22,800 the MSU Ag Experiment Stations 1379 00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:24,433 of the College of Agriculture, 1380 00:56:25,500 --> 00:56:27,400 the Montana Wheat & Barley Committee, 1381 00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:30,600 Cashman Nursery & Landscaping, 1382 00:56:32,266 --> 00:56:34,600 the Northern Pulse Growers Association 1383 00:56:35,766 --> 00:56:37,366 and the Gallatin Gardeners Club. 1384 00:56:40,666 --> 00:56:43,666 (upbeat music plays)