Montana farmer-stockman. [volume], July 01, 1951, Page 33, Image 33

About Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
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Some of the farm flock of 50 blackfaced ewes at the R. J. Conn beef cattle ranch.
Granite county. Conn says this farm flock means $1.500 to $2.000 additional income
that he really doesn't have to work for . . . plus their value in keeping down
weeds around the farmstead. (Montana Farmer-Stockman photo)
Velvet From Woolies
Farm Flock Nets $2,000 a Year
And It's Almost All Pure Velvet
By JERRY LESTER, Roving Reporter
,
"THERE'S A PLACE for a farm
flock of sheep on every farm or
ranch in the state," said Robert J.
Conn, Granite county, as we walked
through his 50 head of blackfaced
ewes. "If nothing else they are
worth the premium on a good fire
insurance policy for the way they
keep down the weeds around the
farmstead."
But from a strictly economic
standpoint, the sheep always do
their share. He figures his 50 head
bring in from $1,500 to $2,000 each
year and wishes everything on the
ranch paid off as* well with as little
work.
The farm flock of sheep was start
ed on the ranch about 28 years ago
with a few b5m lambs. Registered
Hampshire bucks have been used
on the ewes and Conn now has a
good demand for his buck lambs for
breeding stock.
Require Little Labor
One of the main things about the
farm flock is the little work re
quired. Actually he says it amounts
to building a little woven wire fence
and working with them at lambing
and shearing times. Otherwise, he
says, it's an extra $1,500 to $2,000
income that he doesn't have to work
for. The lambing comes the last of
January or first part of February. The
ewe lambs are sold by the first of
July and usually average 100
pounds. They are sold to a local live
stock sales yard for slaughter.
But besides the income from the
lamb crop and wool, the farm flock
of sheep has been found to be a
very efficient weed control method,
Conn believes that the premium on
a fire insurance policy could be add
ed to the amount of profit from
lambs and wool received from the
farm flock. He has found these live
weed mowers do an excellent job,
particularly where the fire hazard
is worst—around the farmstead,
close to buildings and fences or cor
rals. The only feeding is done after
December when they start getting
choice second cutting alfalfa that
is chopped and fed with grain in self
feeders.
The beef operation at the ranch
involves running about 150 head of
whitefaced cattle. Calving is done
along with lambing in January and
February and the calves are sold the
next October.
From 15 to 20 head of heifers are
kept for replacement each year and
the same number of old cows are
sold. Conn thinks he may hold over
his calf crop and feed through the
winter so that a better selection of
heifers could be made before selling
in February or March. The steer
calves sold in October have aver
land - ° f this » 220 acres is in irrigated
aged about 500 pounds and the heif
ers 484 pounds. No breeding cows
have been purchased or brought
onto the ranch for 45 years, making
it one of the oldest continuous herdis
in the state.
The ranch includes 2,000 acres of
Study Range Management
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To add to the technical training they have been receiving in college. 14 senior
and graduate range management students at Montana State college made a 1400
mile trip by bus to see different kinds of range and range practices. Gene F.
Payne and F. A. Branson of the range management department were in charge.
Members of the group are shown here inspecting range work on the Dominion
Range Experiment station, Manyberries. Alta. W. A. Hubbard, left of center
in plaid shirt without hat. is explaining plains range problems of Canada.
grain and alfalfa. A forest service
permit allows grazing for 120 head
of cows during a 3%-month summer
period on adjoining forest lands.
Conn used his sprinkler irrigation
system to irrigate a small plot of
creek bottom land last summer with
so much success that he may make
irrigated pasture out of much of
tiie 300 acres available in this bot
tom. The sprinkler system has been
used for the past three years on
about 2£0 acres of grain and alfalfa
with very good crops resulting.
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Some of Albert Beck's 62 pigs on pasture near the farmstead. Beck has a small
litter in the fall and larger litter in the spring. Out of last spring's litters from
eight Duroc sows. 62 pigs were raised. (Montana Farmer-Stockman photo)
; : >V
Hoe-Cattle Combination Makes
o #
Sound Livestock Operation
when fattening hogs was just a mat
ter of selling your grain through
of Hereford beef cattle and 60 head
of Duroc hogs. -
Beck remembers back in the late
THERE HAVE BEEN a few years
them, admits Albert Beck, Powell
county. But when considered along
with a beef cattle operation, the
combination makes dependable live
stock income. He has about 150 head
?
3Q S when the top price for hogs was
5% cents and sows were selling for
3 cents a pound. But other farm and
livestock products were low then,
too. Since then, he has always had
a few hogs. Eight sows gave him a
total litter of 62 pigs raised last
Speaking of Signs
Here's a Classic
NOTIS
Tresspasser will be persecuted
to the full extent of 2 mungrel
dogs whch nevr was over suchible
to strangers & 1 dubble brl shot
gun whch an't loaded with sufa
piliers. Dam if I aint git ten tired
of his hell raisin on my plase.
pasture gives plenty of water and
wallowing.
spring. In the fall farrowing, Beck
cuts down to just 3 sows. This saves
on extra feed requirements during
the winter. / -
The hogs are pastured all summer
on a 9-acre field along the highway.
Self-feeders in the corral are always
available and filled with grain and
concentrate. An irrigation ditch run
ning through one comer of the hog
The ration up to 100 pounds
weight for the pigs is made up of
equal parts of wheat, oats and bar
ley plus 10 percent concentrate. Aft
er 100 pounds have been put on the
hogs they are fed half wheat and
half barley plus 5 percent concen
trate. The concentrate being used
this year is a regular 40 percent pro
tein supplement. Beck has also used
a 43 percent protein supplement
known as a meat meal with very
good results. This meal is made from
a concentrated tankage.
The use of recently developed
heat lamps for farrowing has saved
more pigs than anything he has ever
tried, says Beck. The lamps are hung
from 16 to 18 inches above the floor
and the little pigs will always find
their way under them. Pig rails 8
inches high and 6 inches from the
sides of each pen in the farrowing
shed do a good job of keeping the
little pigs safe from a rolling sow.
Dipped for-Mange
The pigs are dipped with lindane
when just" 2 months old to get rid
of mange. There has been very little
disease of any kind in the hogs. The
cattle are also sprayed with lindane
each fall and Beck reports better
lice control in this one application
than ever obtained with several
sprayings of older creosote-type
sprays.
The Beck ranch includes 400 acres
of irrigated land plus 1,500 acres of
range land of which he owns 1 %
sections and leases the balance.