Montana Brand Owners by County — MDOL Online Brand Book

Updated October 14, 2026: corrected the Montana statute on mailing-list use (MCA §2-6-1017), described MDOL data requests as Montana public-records requests rather than FOIA, corrected the years of brand-inspection data Honest Cattle holds (2022–2024), and attributed the “not an official document” disclaimer to MDOL’s brand-book page. Updated October 15, 2026: added the statute’s exceptions (including subsection (3) on lists compiled from open public records) and linked the current code, noted that 51,000 brands is not 51,000 ranches, and added a caution on what the county filter shows, after an external review.

The Montana Department of Livestock maintains a real-time online brand book covering more than 51,000 registered Montana livestock brands. That is a count of brands, not of ranches or owners: a single brand can be recorded to several owners (per MDOL’s brand application), and one operation may run more than one brand. The book is searchable by county, city, species, brand character, and location on animal — and it is updated continuously as brands are issued and transferred.

Search the Montana Brand Book →

How to Search by County

1. Open the brand book using the link above.
2. In the Filters panel on the left, expand Counties.
3. Check one or more counties, then click Apply All (upper right).
4. Results paginate at 50 brands per page — use the footer controls to scroll through pages.

Additional filters available: Physical Cities, Species (cattle, horse, sheep, bison), Major Character, Minor Character, and Location on Animal. Combine filters using Apply All.

All 56 Montana Counties

Every county below is searchable in the brand book. Use the county filter to scope results to a specific area. One caution: MDOL does not publish exactly what the county field means. Its brand application asks for the county of the owner’s physical address or livestock location, plus optional extra counties of range, so treat a county list as a rough guide to where brand owners are — not a count of producers or a map of where cattle run.

Important Use Restrictions

The MDOL brand book is a public record provided under Montana law. Two restrictions apply to its use:

• Mailing-list limits. Under MCA §2-6-1017, Montana’s law on public-agency distribution lists, a contact list prepared by an agency such as MDOL may not be used for unsolicited contact (for example, as a mailing list) without the permission of the people on it; doing so is a misdemeanor. The law has exceptions: subsection (3) says it does not stop an individual from compiling a list by examining records that are otherwise open to public inspection. That is not blanket permission for outreach, so check the full statute against your source, method and purpose before building a contact list from the brand book. (MDOL’s own brand-book page still cites the older section number, 2-6-108.)
• Not an official document. MDOL’s brand-book page states that the online brand book “is not a publication of the State of Montana” and may not be used for official Department of Livestock business or for brand verification in a court of law.

Need Bulk Data?

The online interface does not offer a bulk CSV export. Researchers who need the full dataset in structured form can submit a Montana public-records request (Montana’s state-level equivalent of a federal FOIA request). MDOL’s brand-book page points requesters to the state’s Office of Public Information Requests, and questions can go to the MDOL Brands Enforcement Division (brands@mt.gov · 406-444-2045). Honest Cattle has used Montana public-records requests to obtain MDOL’s brand-inspection movement records for 2022, 2023 and 2024, which underpin our Montana Brand Inspection Data page and the wider research series — a similar request could be made for the brand owner file.