The mild weather continues here in south-central Montana. The weighted clouds on this overcast Monday morning hint at rain. They remind me it’s time to do another lap in the garden to peek under the leaves and see what treasures are waiting to be discovered. Nature rewards our season-long ef…
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- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: Recently, my father passed on. My mother had died some years ago. She had no will at the time of her death, but my father received everything anyway, so it did not matter.
- By BILL LOWMAN
Finally, the “dog days” of this year’s July and August are over. Rover had a very large litter! One of my dad’s favorite sayings on that subject was when he and my two brothers and I came in from a full, sweaty, hot day of hand-pitching hay racks full of loose hay, then pulling those loads o…
- Doreen Rosevold
We hear a lot about street gangs in major cities, but rarely do we talk about the field gangs of the prairies. They are notorious and becoming larger and more dangerous. If you live in the country, you know that I’m talking about – coyotes.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
Before Rudi and I headed out the door for our first mini walk (less than a mile) for the day, I knew I needed another layer. A rush of cool Canadian air greeted us as we walked out the door. I chose to grab a flannel shirt I brought home after harvest. Towards the end of harvest, fall began …
- Michael Baron
What power does a Power of Attorney have after death? Estate planning expert Michael Baron answers.
- By BILL LOWMAN
Here we are, on the road again. Five years ago, with the drought of 2021, Lusk and I hauled for nearly a month with two semis from over 100 miles away to lie in enough hay roughage to make the coming winter. Choices of quality roughage were out of the question. You grabbed what was available…
- Doreen Rosevold
I’ve always loved the area around Medora, N.D. The Badlands seem so pure and mysterious. I was a little nervous when I first heard about the plans to build the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library there. I was worried that the openness and the natural beauty of the area would be marred by…
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
It was an unusual year for the north-central Montana wheat harvest. One farmer I saw in the grocery store early one morning commented that his birthday is in late August, and he couldn’t ever recall being in the field on his birthday. Several farmers noted it seemed an unusually long harvest…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: My two brothers and I are entangled in a partnership that my father started. He started with a normal partnership but then he changed it to an LLLP back in 1983.
- By BILL LOWMAN
With the long, extremely hot and dry summer, it’s easy to get caught up in all the negatives – high fuel, hay and machinery costs, as well as motel prices if you’re on the go. Times have changed. I stopped to get a cup of “road coffee” at our local gas station for my 30-mile dash for home an…
- Doreen Rosevold
We have been in a drought all summer. I hope by the time you read this that I have been made a liar.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
As I write this, farmers here in north-central Montana are sidelined from harvest by rain. A few overnight showers turned into true rainfall by mid-morning – dashing hopes of being in the field for the next several days. Though Mother Nature gave them the “gift” of sleeping in this morning, …
- Michael Baron
How do you guaranteed to make passing on your estate “equitable” between all the children? There are many ways to accomplish this.
- Marie Hoyer
Whether one eats it or not, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Going without it may cause physical factors later in the day. Among them may be lower concentration, both in children and adults, irritability, bodily physical problems, or over-eating.
- By BILL LOWMAN
Where were you and what were you doing 25 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001?
- Doreen Rosevold
My grandson has had struggles in his life, first with deafness as a toddler, corrected by surgery, and followed by challenges with speech. He also has extreme learning differences that have made formal education difficult. He is, however, very handsome and one of the kindest and most thought…
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
Here in Montana, many are busy with haying and grain harvest. As a young girl helping my mom, preparation for harvest included a big grocery shopping trip to Havre along with the usual one or two trips to Big Sandy each week. Harvest meant filling the refrigerator in the basement with Shasta…
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: I have an unusual situation. Years ago, I came back to farm with my parents. At the time, they thought it would be a good idea to set up a life estate with me as the remainderman.
- By BILL LOWMAN
Two and a half miles right down our main Wannagan Creek gorge from our ranch headquarters is a main creek crossing that leads on down to the old Otto Will home site of decades past, where a spring waters cattle in a large stock tank that divides and shares a three-pasture rotation.
- Doreen Rosevold
It happened after supper. I was standing on our small front patio and watering the strawberry bed on one side. Behind me were flowers and a small vegetable garden. To my right was a gravel path that leads up to the cement patio and the front door.
- By DARLA TYLER-MCSHERRY
My friends are on safari in Africa, and I’ve been lucky enough to see some of their photos and videos. The environment and animals are truly inspiring and remarkable. I surprised myself at the emotional response I had when I watched a video of a herd of elephants cross a river – and how the …
- Michael Baron
Dear Michael: We have been farming with our son for about five years now. We had him on wages for a time but we recently shifted him to shares in the operation. That is when the trouble started.
- By BILL LOWMAN
We got another interesting phone call. JoAnn usually answers due to my “selective hearing” of too many years of haying tractors and heavy equipment dozer and scraper noises hammering away day after day. The first 30 years we never wore ear plugs or ear set covers. We had to listen to the eng…
- Doreen Rosevold
I got a hug from a stranger in Walmart today. It sounds weird and well, it kind of was. Let me back up a little to explain. I like to make jewelry and give it to family and friends. Sometimes, I even have the courage to wear something I made.