Big Sky Country – Spring Break
Just when I thought this whole experience couldn’t be any more incredible – I came to Montana!
On Sunday we drove to Miles City, to meet another friend from college and travel on to her ranch at Pompeys Pillar, Montana. The afternoon was filled with the last chores of the day, and showing me around their ranch, which sits right on the banks of the Yellowstone river. Stunning location, and impressively frozen river!
On Monday we headed to ORIgen, an AI Bull stud and facility in nearby Billings.
We were able to tour 3 of their 5 bull barns, and see bulls which I have been reading about in sale catalogues for weeks!
We were also able to visit their new IVF lab, and speak with employees about this fascinating developing business. The new IVF lab is of higher standard than some human IVF labs! Definitely some risks within this type of business, but so many opportunities – and some incredibly knowledgeable and passionate people to meet with!
By Tuesday I had made my way to Butte, Montana. An older mining town, I spent the day exploring this industry and the remnants of it in town. Pictured below:
Clark Mansion
Old Lexington Stamp Mill
Granite Mountain Memorial
Berkeley Pit
Mineral Museum
Butte Brewery – to sample some of the current local product!
Wednesday I was back in the car, and drove down to Dillon visiting with both Sitz Angus and 5L Red Angus.
With Tamie Sitz, I took a tour of their ranch and was able to see bulls and heifers, working areas and the different features of each, and their impressive sale facility! I was also able to spend some time in the office with Tamie, as she ran me through the different software they are using to manage their operation and registered cow herd – I found this particularly interesting to hear and see the benefits and compromises of each!
I arrived at the Melhoff family later in the afternoon - their 5L story is something special! I first toured with Larry, who first drove me to the top of the valley for the most incredible view of their ranch and surrounding region.
We covered all topics, from cattle to politics, and I took particular interest in the work they were doing around feed efficiency and composite breeding. Larry spoke at length about his visions for the future of his business – definitely a man not shy about progress! I then spent some time with daughter, Larissa, and she spoke about the growth they had experienced – from almost nothing in ’87 to now calving 2,000 cows. She also spoke about working with family, and the incredible dynamic present in this family to facilitate their successful business.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visits with both families and can’t thank them enough for their time and hospitality!
Wednesday evening I made my way to Chico Hot Springs, where I was staying the night. A good soak in their natural hot spring (90-100F) was pretty perfect after a day in the car!
On Thursday morning I was lucky enough to be able to head out dog sledding through the nearby mountains! We covered a stunning 10 miles of trail, before letting the dogs have their head for the last mile – boy they can really motor along!! We’d been travelling along pretty smoothly at about 10 miles/hour, but when they get going they are between 16-18 miles/hour.
I then made my way to Columbus, to the Montana Silversmith outlet store – boy oh boy….. let’s just say, I left here with much lighter pockets, a big bag, and an even bigger smile!
In the evening, I joined the Vermillion Family for their pre-sale dinner, and enjoyed a delicious Certified Angus Beef steak and meeting people from right across the state – everyone seems to have had more snow than normal this year, and I found the stories that come from this particularly entertaining! The incredible thing about the technology that we live with, is that sometimes home doesn’t feel all that far away – I was able to live stream the ALPA Young Auctioneers Competition at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, and am incredibly proud of the Elders lads - I had the Montana cheer squad backing you boys!!
Friday rolled around, and I made my way to Midland Bull Test. Here I had the pleasure of meeting owner Sam McDonnell, and being toured around by her health manager Sam Trehal – the irony of meeting not one, two but three Sam’s was not lost on us!!
This facility takes multi breed beef bulls from right across the country, and puts them in a program that measures the genetic performance potential of individuals or sire groups. Focussing on efficiency, each bull is offered the same opportunity to fulfil their genetic potential, while being compared with his peers on an even scale. Midland focus solely on bull performance, and the top end bulls (70-80%) are offered in a feature sale. Midland also use the grow safe product cells, which I saw in operation at 5L, and efficiency test each individual animal for Residual Feed Intake. Fertility is also taken into consideration when identifying the ‘final sort’ using scrotal circumference measurements and semen evaluation; each bull is also ultrasounded for ribeye, backfat and marbling. Interestingly Midland feed only a low energy ration, this is seen to be comparable with the rangeland and pastures where they must be able to function once sold.
Back in Billings, and it was time to see some of the Vermillion Ranch sale – and a sale did I see!!!
Most notably for me, was the difference in Auctioneers. Australian auctioneers call the bid they have got, American auctioneers call the bid they are looking for. In this particular sale I was able to see 4 different auctioneers sell, each with their own style – which I could appreciate. Only those who have worked a bull or ram sale can truly appreciate the effort, co-ordination and sheer determination it takes to offer over 500 bulls in a day – and this family pulled it off in true style! I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to witness this sale. Final sale results: sold 504 of 533 offered, average $6,275 to gross over $3 million.
Friday evening it was back to Snowshoe Cattle Co, where I continued to answer questions on all things Australia; I wish I’d had a camera out to record the reactions when I finally found a short video of AFL – it provided big laughter and great memories – I look forward to taking you all to a game when you come to visit!
As I travelled across the state, I was continually amazed by variance in terrain- from mountains, to rolling hills, to river flats – this state really does have it all!
I rode back with friends from college to Milk Creek Reds, where it seemed only fitting, to farewell Montana by making my first snowman!
Before making the drive back to Manhattan, KS on Sunday. I think I have added more to my Montana list than I managed to tick off, but this was definitely a spring break that I will never forget!
