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Western Ag Reporter Podcast

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0:36

Antelope Buck Poached Near Alzada, Left to Waste

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/19

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks received a report Aug. 13 of a buck antelope found on private land off Highway 323 near Alzada with its head removed and the meat left to waste. The animal appears to have been dead for a week or two. Wildlife crimes like this are often solved with help from the public. Anyone with possible information about this incident is encouraged to contact game warden Kyle Queer at 406-853-7700 or visit https://fwp.mt.gov/enforcement/tipmont to report a violation. You...

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2:01

Applications Accepted for W.D. Farr Scholarship Program

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/18

Graduate students pursuing careers in meat science and animal science are encouraged to apply for the annual W.D. Farr Scholarship program. Established in 2007 by the National Cattlemen’s Foundation (NCF), the scholarship recognizes outstanding graduate students committed to advancing the beef industry. Two ,000 grants are awarded to graduate students who demonstrate superior achievement in academics and leadership. Previous scholarship recipients recognize that the program not only benefits ...

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2:03

SD FFA Foundation Welcomes Tracy Kaltvedt as New...

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/18

The SD FFA Foundation announces the appointment of Tracy Kaltvedt as the new SD FFA Foundation Executive Assistant. Kaltvedt follows Gretchen Sharp, who retired after serving the SD FFA Foundation for 24 years. Kaltvedt brings experience in project management, facilitating daily operations, implementing process improvements and maintaining data integrity, confidentiality and security. She also brings extensive computer, team building and problem-solving skills from industry. She se...

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3:28

Family Farmers - Ranchers Celebrated during 2025...

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/16

Family farmers and ranchers will be celebrated August 30, during South Dakota Farmers Union Day at the South Dakota State Fair. “Agriculture is the state’s No. 1 industry, so our organization works to ensure fairgoers have a chance to meet the families doing the work as well as gain a better understanding of the challenges these families face as they work to feed America,” explained Karla Hofhenke, Executive Director of South Dakota Farmers Union. To accomplish these goals, South Dakota Farme...

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3:16

It's the Pitts - The Eyes Have It

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/16

When pinkeye raged through my kindergarten class, we all looked like a bunch of crybabies who’d been ballin’ our eyes out because our class hamster, Hieronymus, died of suspicious causes. Mothers back then were pulling their kids out of class faster than an Arizona roadrunner with its tail-feathers on fire, and pretty soon the weepy-eyed teacher and I were the only ones who showed up for school. So, I know what the pinkeye calves are experiencing right now in my neck of the woods. We had a we...

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1:01

Letter to the Editor

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/16

Dear Kellie, Thank you so much for the feature on the greenthread bloom. For our 65th anniversary, we took a few days to make a tour to Folsen, New Mexico, across Johnston’s Mesa. This was an early time for us to drive in the northeast part of New Mexico and southeast corner of Colorado. The spring flowers were all over covering the pastures. We visited a ranch family as they were unloading a semi of cattle on the Mesa. I took a few pictures, and in the lush green pastures is this long row of...

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4:30

Reader Opinion - How Global Packers Gained Outsized...

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/01

United States cattle producers with an interest in strengthening the economic position of their individual farms and ranches and in ensuring the health and safety of the U.S. livestock herd would not knowingly support policies that conflict with their own interests and goals. For example, cattle producers wouldn’t support opening the U.S. border to a country not free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), especially when USDA forecasts that allowing beef from such a country would cause U.S. cattle ...

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0:10

Agri-Kid of the Week - Clella Sampsel

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/01

Agri-Kid of the Week, Clella Sampsel, is the #1 lambing barn helper. Photo courtesy of Dawnita Deichmann. Article Link

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6:36

Cooking - The Night Before Fair

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/08/01

It is 4-H fair season, so parents, grandparents, and 4-H’ers are in or have been in or will be in a frantic mode of getting projects ready and putting aside several days to compete at the fair. It is an exciting yet stressful experience for all 4-H families. Tami Jo Blake, former Western Ag Reporter editor, wrote this essay about her recent experience getting ready for fair. Tami Jo, her husband Beau, and their four children live and work on the PV Ranch near Hysham, Montana. I have entitled ...

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8:45

First Annual Rawhide Ranch Rodeo Pays out $70,000

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/31

Sixty-three teams representing 11 states convened in the small, ranching town of Lusk, Wyoming – situated two hours north of Cheyenne – for the first annual Rawhide Ranch Rodeo on July 25-26. With 100 percent of the entry fees going back to the winning teams, along with other highly coveted prizes, the inaugural event has been dubbed “The World’s Richest Ranch Rodeo.” At the end of the action-packed, two-day event, the 41 Spear team from Fort Washakie, Wyoming, rose to the top of a highly tal...

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5:31

California's Proposition 12: Impacts - Implications

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/31

On July 23, the House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on California’s Proposition 12 (Prop 12). Six panelists testified, followed by a clearly party-divided discussion. Initially known as the “Farm Animal Confinement Initiative,” Prop 12 was voted into law in California in 2018. The primary function of the law was to establish “minimum space requirements for veal calves, egg-laying hens, and breeding pigs,” Holly Cook, economist for the National Pork Producers Council described. To be...

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4:17

Montana Lamb Jam to Promote State's Diverse Industry

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/31

The fifth annual Montana Lamb Jam is a one-stop event for everything Montana lamb. Set for August 9 at Kennedy Park in East Helena, Montana, the event will feature three, pasture-to-plate lamb dishes prepared by top Montana chefs coupled with vendors and presentations for a complete lamb experience. The original intent of the event, spearheaded by Kim Ashmore and Dave Scott and sponsored by the Montana Wool Growers Association, was to connect Montana lamb producers who were direct marketing t...

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3:12

Editor's Perspective - Feral County Fair Kids -...

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/31

There is nothing quite like county fair time. I actually attended my very first Weld County Fair in July of 1996, about a week after I was born, so both of my parents could be there to help my then eight-year-old sister, Chellsie, and 10-year-old brother, Micah. Those were the years where I got to run feral until it was my turn to show. My parents would essentially shuttle me to town each day, tell me what time I needed to be back at the show box during the lamb show, or to the stalls during ...

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3:14

Comments by the Publisher 7.31.25

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/31

What an amazing three days we had in Billings, Montana, last week for the annual NLVA Summertime Classic! I had the opportunity to work these three days of our video sale, and what a sale it was. The June video sales set all-time records for the various video auction companies around the nation. I talked to a pretty big number of ranchers after the June videos that were second-guessing themselves for not having their cattle sell in June and waiting for July. I must admit, I was also really wo...

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2:02

Reader Opinion - Stress Counts with Bighorn Pneumonia

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/26

Bighorn pneumonia is a very popular disease with anyone who wants to eliminate domestic sheep from the western United States. Any time there is a bighorn pneumonia die off, the finger points at domestic sheep as the cause, usually with no corroborating evidence needed. An outcry to eliminate the offending sheep follows. But there is more to the story… - Sierra Stoneberg Holt The Mycoplasma pneumonia organism is found in healthy populations of bighorn sheep. This is true for other species, als...

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0:03

Agri-Kid of the Week - Wesson Campbell

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/25

Article Link

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5:13

Cooking - Tribute to Peggy Mothershead

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/25

Perhaps it is my age, but it seems that I am called upon to write obituary poems very often lately. This poem was requisitioned by Peggy Mothershead before she passed away. After she had a stroke, she asked me to write her poem so she could read it before she passed. Unfortunately, I kept putting off writing the poem, because it was just too sad to sit down and do. I wish I had written it for her, but I hope somehow, she gets a copy! Peggy and her husband, Doug, ranched in Sweet Grass County ...

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3:11

Prairie Ponderings - Pondering Plot Twists and Relatives

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/24

In fiction, often the weather foreshadows a plot twist. An author might use a brewing storm to foretell conflict coming soon or allow the reader to relax for a few pages with a sunny day at the beach. So, I had to wonder if the oppressive, muggy heat weighing on me as I scurried to prepare the ranch for visiting family was some sort of predictor. I tossed that thought out of my head to make room for the long list of preparations that I realized I wouldn’t finish. My daughter, Abby, mowed the ...

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1:52

President Trump Opens Australian Market to U.S. Beef...

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/24

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) announced that for the first time in 20 years, Australia will accept shipments of fresh and frozen U.S. beef, ending decades of bureaucratic red tape and prolonged negotiations that have prevented American cattle producers from accessing the Australian market. NCBA thanks President Donald J. Trump for delivering yet another trade win for America’s cattle farmers and ranchers. “For 20 years, U.S. beef was denied access to Australia while Austral...

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5:37

Torrington Livestock Changes Ownership

Western Ag Reporter Podcast ·

2025/07/24

Several days a week, echoes from the loudspeaker calling out pen numbers at Torrington Livestock Markets reverberate throughout the town of Torrington, Wyoming, oftentimes with sales running late into the evenings to accommodate the sheer volume of cattle on a weekly basis. Moving forward, Torrington Livestock Markets’ reputation as being one of the top auction markets by volume in the country will continue, but with a shift in ownership. On July 10, Chuck Petersen and Lander Nicodemus became...

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