The Montana Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) is set to host its 106th Annual Convention from November 17-20, 2025, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Missoula. This year's convention offers Montana's farmers and ranchers a critical opportunity to reconnect, gain market-leading insights, and shape the grassroots policy that guides the organization and influences state and national agriculture. Key highlights of the 2025 program include high-impact keynote speakers who will address the most pressing issues in modern agriculture, including: Strategies to Demonstrate Agriculture’s Role in the "Make America Healthy Again" movement. Terri Moore, vice president of communications, American Farm Bureau Federation. Geopolitics...

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Agri-kid, Riggin Finn, watching daddy train colts this fall and learning how to ride her own ranch pony. Photo submitted by Darian Finn. Submit YOUR agri-kid to [email protected].

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I am throwing a lot of information at all of you this week, so please take your time while digesting all of these graphs. Before we dive into all of this, I need to give Kurt Kangas, regional manager for the American Angus Association, full credit for compiling all of this data. Kurt spent countless hours crunching all the numbers and designing all of these graphs. He presented this information to students at Montana State University as he has been very involved in Montana State University Angus there in Bozeman, Montana. Kurt also presented this data at the Annual Montana...

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The nation of Israel is a beautiful yet perplexing land, a land of biblical history where Jesus walked. It is the epicenter of the Jewish faith and a land that also holds great importance to Islam and the Druze faith. Fascinatingly, it is also on the cutting edge of technology, with the most start-ups per capita of any place on the globe. I recently had the opportunity to visit Israel once again, this time in an official capacity. For nearly 80 years, Israel has been America’s closest security and political partner in the Middle East. It is the only democracy...

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Every year when we wrapped up the season and turned the “dude” horses out to pasture, I marveled at how they were the key to the success of our operation. Those old ranch horses endure a lot of greenhorn mistakes, but they bring their riders safely back to the corral every single trip. Sure, they get pretty smart about tricking their riders into letting them drop their heads for some bites of grass now and then or brush a little too close to some overhanging tree branches, but for the most part they are saints on hooves. Probably the most...

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On September 28, the Billings Livestock Commission (BLS) Horse Sale sold its 200,000th horse. BLS is known for their catalog sales and for having the number one loose horse market in the United States. When asked about this milestone, Jann Parker, who has been the manager at the BLS horse sale for 27 years, simply said, “That’s what we do. We sell horses. All kinds, all classes, all the time.” “We’ve worked hard to be a good place to market your horse over the years, and continue to be the curve,” Parker continued. When asked what the next milestone is,...

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Kay Koch lives in Salem, South Dakota. She is a wife, mother of three, and a Farmers Union Insurance Agent. She is also a two-time cancer survivor eager to share her story in the hopes that what she learned from her journey helps others. “I want to share the message of hope. Cancer does not have to be the end of your story. There is hope,” Koch said. “And you have to advocate for yourself.” Early in her cancer journey, Kay learned if she was going to survive, she had to advocate for herself. She discovered a lump while nursing...

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The sheer number of variables that are at play on a daily basis for the ranching industry require a person to be adaptable, flexible, and creative. However, when it comes to grazing management, constant reflection and contingency planning are integral to the success of both the land and the livestock and ecosystems it sustains. During a recent NCBA Cattlemen’s Webinar Series episode, Chad Ellis, with the Texas Agricultural Land Trust, and Robbie LeValley, of LeValley Ranch in Colorado, provided their insights and experience for how to consciously plan ahead for uncertain years, which are a given in the ranching business....

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October has been recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the United States since 1985 by the American Cancer Society and Imperial Chemical Industries. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is intended to promote screening, raise awareness, and in turn, reduce the risk of the disease that affects 2.3 million women worldwide, according to breastcancer.org. The National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. reports that one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer. “In 2025, an estimated 316,950 women and 2,800 men will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and an additional 59,080 new cases of non-invasive (in situ)...

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Agri-kid of the week, Dean Stephens, is three years old and keeping notes during pre-conditioning. Photo courtesy of Allison Wittkopp. Submit your agri-kid to [email protected]

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