Blaine County, Montana
North-central Hi-Line · Chinook · Milk River valley · US-2 corridor 110 miles east of Havre
- Check current snowpack, drought, streamflow, and soil moisture before stocking, hay buying, or destocking.
- See where Blaine County calves moved in 2023 — destinations, seasonal pattern, and shipping windows.
- Look up water rights, parcels, and ownership via Cadastral, DNRC WRQS, and WaterMapper.
- Reach the District 6 brand inspector and verify cattle-buyer bonds before consigning.
Snowpack · SWE
No SNOTEL stations in this county. Basin-index snowpack not tracked.
Water-Year Precip
Water-year precip index not tracked for this county.
Drought Monitor
Worst drought class anywhere in the county per the U.S. Drought Monitor.
D0 abnormally dry · D1 moderate · D2 severe · D3 extreme · D4 exceptional. Percentages = share of county area at or worse than each class.
Streamflow
Cubic feet per second flowing past the nearest in-county USGS gauge right now.
Soil Moisture
VWC = Volumetric Water Content — the percent of soil volume that is water. Montana Mesonet probe average.
Shallow ≈ 4″ depth · Deep ≈ 20″ depth.
Bands (shallow + deep average): ≥ 30 % moist · 22–30 % adequate · 15–22 % drying · < 15 % dry.
Precip Anomaly
Inches above (+) or below (−) the 1901–2000 average for the latest completed 1-, 3- and 12-month periods (NOAA NCEI, monthly data) — not the water year (see the separate Water-Year Precip tile for that).
1-mo = last 30 days · 3-mo = last 90 days · 12-mo = trailing year.
12-mo bands: > +1″ wet · −0.5″ to +1″ near normal · −2″ to −0.5″ dry · < −2″ very dry.
Reading this dashboard — what these terms mean
Median vs. mean. We use the median (NRCS standard) so a single very-wet or very-dry year doesn’t skew the baseline.
Water year. Hydrology runs Oct 1 → Sep 30. Most of a year’s snowpack accumulation is captured in the same season it melts.
Percentile (streamflow). 50 = exactly typical for this calendar date. 19 = today’s flow is lower than 81 % of all readings ever recorded on this date. 81 = lower than only 19 %.
VWC (soil moisture). Volumetric Water Content. Rough field bands: under 10 % = dry, 15–25 % = productive growing-season range, over 35 % = saturated.
Drought scale. D0–D4 from the U.S. Drought Monitor, weekly Thursday release. The percentages tell you what fraction of county area is at or worse than each band — a county can be 100 % at D2 with 0 % at D3.
Precip anomaly. Inches above or below the 1901–2000 average for the latest completed 1-, 3- and 12-month periods (NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, monthly data). Not the water year — the Water-Year Precip tile is the water-year measure. Anomaly is in inches; “% of median” is a ratio. Both useful; anomaly is easier to interpret when comparing a dry summer month to a wet spring month.
Forage Condition. A 0–100 county-scale index of rangeland forage conditions relative to this county’s own historical normal, blending satellite-observed vegetation response, growing-season moisture, drought stress, and usability. Higher = more favorable relative to local normal. Categories: 0–25 Poor, 26–50 Fair, 51–75 Good, 76–100 Excellent. Long-Term Forage Potential is a separate long-run rating, not part of the score. Beta — for regional screening and comparison, not a pasture-level forage inventory or stocking-rate recommendation.
How often this updates. The moisture and drought tiles (snowpack, streamflow, soil moisture, rain, water-year precip, drought class) refresh every morning. The Forage Condition score’s satellite vegetation read — and the separate Hay & Pasture read — refresh weekly (Mondays), because the underlying satellite imagery only updates on a ~16-day cycle. So the water tiles move day to day; the vegetation reads step forward about once a week.
Blaine County in context
Adjacent counties in the the Milk River Hi-Line corridor. Blaine County shares the Milk River and Rocky Mountain Front snowpack system with these neighbors.
Click any neighbor for its full county dashboard.
Snowpack & Moisture Detail
SNOTEL station-by-station read for Blaine County. The dashboard above gives current aggregate; this section shows where the water actually is.
Blaine County’s primary surface water is the Milk River, a transboundary stream that originates in Glacier County’s Rocky Mountain Front, crosses into Canada’s Alberta, and re-enters Montana near Havre before flowing east through Chinook. Upstream Canadian diversions through the St. Mary Canal and Milk River Irrigation Project significantly influence summer flow volumes reaching Blaine County ranchers. Stock water on the county’s Missouri Breaks margin depends on seasonal drainages and earthen stock dams.
Basin Index: Milk River is the sole reliable surface water corridor; flows are regulated by upstream Montana and Alberta diversion agreements. Drought Monitor (valid 2026-09-08): Worst class D1 (moderate) over 86% of the county. Coverage at or worse than each class: D0 100%, D1 86%, D2 0%, D3 0%, D4 0%. Station snapshot as of September 17, 2026 — live dashboard above is current.
Two-Week Rainfall
Observed (prior 14 days) and forecast (next 14 days) · Blaine County · as of 2026-09-17
| Period | Window | Rain (in) | Normal (in) | % of Normal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prior 2 weeks (observed) | Sep 3 – Sep 16, 2026 | 0.23 | 0.69 | 33% |
| Next 2 weeks (forecast) | Sep 17 – Sep 30, 2026 | 0.70 | 0.49 | 143% |
Observed detail: 4 measurable-rain day(s) in the prior two weeks; largest single day 0.10 in.
Forecast source: NWS/NOAA api.weather.gov (days 1–7) blended with Open-Meteo gridded model (days 8–14). The next-14-day total is model-derived — NOAA quantitative precipitation forecast is precise only through ~7 days, and days 8–14 are a model blend, not an observed gauge reading.
Water Rights, Irrigation & Land Ownership
Blaine County sits in the middle Milk River valley, where the river crosses through Chinook and Harlem after entering from Hill County upstream. The Fort Belknap Indian Reservation occupies a significant portion of the county and holds senior Winters Doctrine reserved water rights.
The Fort Belknap Reservation’s Winters reserved water rights on the Milk River are among the most senior in Montana and take priority over downstream state-appropriated rights in low-flow years. The 1908 Winters doctrine case originated on the Milk River here, making Blaine County ground zero for reserved water rights law in the West. Milk River flows are also governed by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty with Canada, which allocates a portion of natural flows between the two countries; drought years frequently result in contested allocations. Blaine County’s private irrigators hold relatively junior state appropriation dates, many from the 1910s–1920s, and can face curtailment in dry years. Secondary sources include Beaver Creek, Lodge Pole Creek, and numerous seasonal coulees draining into the Milk from the south. The Missouri Breaks southern tier has very limited surface water and relies almost entirely on stock dams and wells.
Federal Grazing Leases
BLM and U.S. Forest Service permitted grazing on public-land allotments · Blaine County
| System | Allotments | Permitted use | Public acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLM | 205 | 64,379 AUMs | 401,034 |
| U.S. Forest Service | 0 | — | — |
AUMs (BLM) and head-months (USFS) are both animal-unit-months — one animal grazing for one month, the standard measure of authorized use. Acres are BLM public acres and USFS GIS acres on the mapped allotments.
Statewide maps: BLM allotment map · Forest Service allotment map. Excludes Montana DNRC state-trust grazing leases.
Land Resources
Three independent estimates of how Blaine County’s land is used — shown side by side, never blended
Every acreage figure below comes from an independent source that measures the land a different way. We show them side by side — and never blend reported acreage, satellite pixels and tax classifications into one unexplained number. Total county area 2,705,611 acres · land in farms 1,880,136 acres (69% of the county).
🗺 Open the interactive land map for Blaine County →
See crops, range, irrigated fields, public land and ownership parcels drawn live on the map.
Principal crops — official vs. satellite
| Crop | USDA Census 2022 (acres harvested) | Satellite CDL 2023 (acres present) |
|---|---|---|
| Winter wheat | 58,619 | 49,406 |
| Spring wheat | 113,997 | 326,423 |
| Durum wheat | 6,818 | 977 |
| Barley | 16,471 | 26,800 |
| Oats | 155 | 3,339 |
| Corn | withheld | 1,573 |
| Alfalfa hay | 49,946 | 113,687 |
| Other hay | 12,176 | 67,578 |
| Dry peas | 9,471 | 13,983 |
| Lentils | 5,598 | 13,661 |
| Chickpeas | withheld | 1,009 |
| Safflower | — | 114 |
| Canola | 6,984 | 6,541 |
| Flaxseed | withheld | 5,053 |
| Sorghum | — | 148 |
These columns measure different things, so they should not match. The Census counts acres actually harvested in the census year, as reported by producers; the Cropland Data Layer counts every acre the satellite saw in that crop, including fields in a crop–fallow rotation and stands not harvested. Winter wheat is the clearest example: much of the county’s wheat ground sits in fallow in any given year, so the satellite total runs well above harvested acres. CDL also over-attributes hay and forage on native range. “Withheld” means the Census suppressed the value to protect an individual operation’s privacy.
How the county’s acres classify
| Land class | USDA Census 2022 | Satellite CDL 2023 | DOR assessment 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cropland (total) | 475,996 | 656,873 | 545,337 |
| of which harvested | 289,764 | — | — |
| Irrigated land | 43,985 | — | 53,639 |
| Pasture & rangeland | 1,372,999 | 1,897,588 | 1,000,333 |
| Forest / woodland | 21,226 | 82,135 | 20,574 |
| Developed | — | 23,213 | — |
| Water & wetlands | — | 52,775 | — |
Three ways of counting the same ground. Census figures are producer-reported acres in farms; the satellite column is a wall-to-wall pixel classification of the whole county (so it also sees developed land, water and non-farm ground the others do not); the assessment column is the Montana Department of Revenue’s parcel-level tax classification (CAMA), which is why its cropland total tracks the Census closely while the satellite tends to run higher. Developed and open-water rows come only from the satellite. Where they disagree, no single number is “wrong” — they are measuring different things.
Irrigated land, three independent ways
43,985 USDA Census harvested irrigated cropland, 2022 | 72,317 DNRC mapped remote-sensed irrigated extent | 53,639 DOR assessed tax classification, 2026 |
The single most important acreage figure for a cattle operation, and the three sources genuinely differ. The Census counts acres actually irrigated and harvested in the census year; the Montana DOR figure is what is classified and taxed as irrigated; the DNRC mapping captures the full remote-sensed irrigated extent, including ground that carries irrigation but was idle or in another use that year — so it usually reads highest. We publish all three rather than pick one.
What each estimate means
- USDA Census of Agriculture — producer-reported, the official record. Highly credible, but taken every five years and suppressed in counties where a value would identify a single operation.
- Satellite (Cropland Data Layer) — USDA’s annual, wall-to-wall satellite classification. Complete county coverage every year, but it infers crops from imagery, so it mislabels some ground and over-calls hay and forage on native range.
- Tax / assessment — Montana Department of Revenue parcel-level classification from the CAMA assessment roll (2026 tax year), aggregated from the Montana State Library cadastral. Parcel- and ownership-based; a land classification, not an annual crop report.
Sources: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture 2022 (Quick Stats); USDA Cropland Data Layer 2023 (CropScape zonal statistics, USDA-NASS); Montana Department of Revenue CAMA assessment acreage via the MSDI cadastral parcels layer (tax year 2026); Montana DNRC Statewide Irrigation dataset. Prepared by Dirk Adams with the assistance of AI.
Local Help
Verified contacts and official destinations for Blaine County — not a directory dump, just where to actually call
Extension, USDA, market, brand and diagnostic links go to the official Montana source; the DNRC office and phone are the specific regional office serving this county. Provider directories (veterinarians, feed dealers) will be added only once a repeatable verification standard is in place. Prepared by Dirk Adams with the assistance of AI.
Production & Sales
Operation character, hay base, and how cattle reach market from Blaine County.
Cattle production
Blaine County supports a substantial cow-calf industry centered in the Milk River valley and extending south into the Missouri Breaks, where larger unfenced range units still operate. Fort Belknap Reservation cattle operations represent a significant share of county inventory. The breaks terrain south of US-2 supports yearling stocker programs on native range through summer, with fall shipping from Chinook and Harlem. USFS presence is minimal; most grazing is on BLM, state lease, and deeded land. Operation sizes range from 100-cow family outfits to multi-section breaks ranches running 600–1,000 head.
Hay & winter feed
Irrigated grass hay from Milk River bottom ground between Harlem and Chinook forms the primary winter feed base. Senior irrigation rights on the Milk support first-cutting volumes in early July most years. Alfalfa is grown in limited acreage in the valley floor. Operators in the breaks south of Chinook often truck hay from the valley or source from Hill County irrigators. Second cuttings are weather-dependent and frequently skipped in dry years. [draft — verify against current conditions]
Logistics · sale barns & trucking
Chinook (US-2) and Harlem are the central shipping points, with Havre’s sale barn 65 miles west as the primary marketing venue. US-2 provides direct east-west trucking to Havre, Malta, and Glasgow. Fall calf run from October through early November with breaks ranches often trailing cattle to US-2 before loading. Montana Hi-Line distances mean trucking costs to Billings or Great Falls feeders add roughly $30–50/head over Front Range operators.
Licensed Processing Plants
No federally inspected or state-inspected processing plant currently operates in Blaine County — the nearest licensed plants are listed below
Meat from federally inspected and state-inspected plants can be sold; custom-exempt plants are not listed here. Verified August 2026 against the USDA FSIS Meat, Poultry & Egg Product Inspection Directory and the Montana Department of Livestock state plant list (Jan 2026). Grants of inspection change — call before you haul.
Snowpack · SWE
No SNOTEL stations in this county. Basin-index snowpack not tracked.
Water-Year Precip
Water-year precip index not tracked for this county.
Drought Monitor
Worst drought class anywhere in the county per the U.S. Drought Monitor.
D0 abnormally dry · D1 moderate · D2 severe · D3 extreme · D4 exceptional. Percentages = share of county area at or worse than each class.
Streamflow
Cubic feet per second flowing past the nearest in-county USGS gauge right now.
Soil Moisture
VWC = Volumetric Water Content — the percent of soil volume that is water. Montana Mesonet probe average.
Shallow ≈ 4″ depth · Deep ≈ 20″ depth.
Bands (shallow + deep average): ≥ 30 % moist · 22–30 % adequate · 15–22 % drying · < 15 % dry.
Precip Anomaly
Inches above (+) or below (−) the 1901–2000 average for the latest completed 1-, 3- and 12-month periods (NOAA NCEI, monthly data) — not the water year (see the separate Water-Year Precip tile for that).
1-mo = last 30 days · 3-mo = last 90 days · 12-mo = trailing year.
12-mo bands: > +1″ wet · −0.5″ to +1″ near normal · −2″ to −0.5″ dry · < −2″ very dry.
Reading this dashboard — what these terms mean
Median vs. mean. We use the median (NRCS standard) so a single very-wet or very-dry year doesn't skew the baseline.
Water year. Hydrology runs Oct 1 → Sep 30. Most of a year's snowpack accumulation is captured in the same season it melts.
Percentile (streamflow). 50 = exactly typical for this calendar date. 19 = today's flow is lower than 81 % of all readings ever recorded on this date. 81 = lower than only 19 %.
VWC (soil moisture). Volumetric Water Content. Rough field bands: under 10 % = dry, 15–25 % = productive growing-season range, over 35 % = saturated.
Drought scale. D0–D4 from the U.S. Drought Monitor, weekly Thursday release. The percentages tell you what fraction of county area is at or worse than each band — a county can be 100 % at D2 with 0 % at D3.
Precip anomaly. Inches above or below the 1901–2000 average for the latest completed 1-, 3- and 12-month periods (NOAA NCEI Climate at a Glance, monthly data). Not the water year — the Water-Year Precip tile is the water-year measure. Anomaly is in inches; "% of median" is a ratio. Both useful; anomaly is easier to interpret when comparing a dry summer month to a wet spring month.
Forage Condition. A 0–100 county-scale index of rangeland forage conditions relative to this county's own historical normal, blending satellite-observed vegetation response, growing-season moisture, drought stress, and usability. Higher = more favorable relative to local normal. Categories: 0–25 Poor, 26–50 Fair, 51–75 Good, 76–100 Excellent. Long-Term Forage Potential is a separate long-run rating, not part of the score. Beta — for regional screening and comparison, not a pasture-level forage inventory or stocking-rate recommendation.
How often this updates. The moisture and drought tiles (snowpack, streamflow, soil moisture, rain, water-year precip, drought class) refresh every morning. The Forage Condition score's satellite vegetation read — and the separate Hay & Pasture read — refresh weekly (Mondays), because the underlying satellite imagery only updates on a ~16-day cycle. So the water tiles move day to day; the vegetation reads step forward about once a week.
Spring 2026 snapshot (April 6, 2026) — archived. For current conditions, use the live dashboard above.
This section records conditions as of early April 2026. Drought, streamflow and moisture have changed since then; the live dashboard above updates every morning.
Data as of: April 6, 2026 | Source: USDA NRCS National Water and Climate Center
Blaine County enters spring 2026 with no snowpack buffer whatsoever. Both SNOTEL stations relevant to the Milk River watershed — Rocky Boy at 4,730 ft and Many Glacier at 4,930 ft — are reporting 0.0 inches SWE at 0% of median. These low-elevation stations have melted out entirely, leaving no stored water in the mountain snowpack to supplement spring runoff or Milk River flows. Critically, the St. Mary Diversion into the Milk River depends on spring snowmelt from the Glacier area; with Many Glacier at zero, inflows into the St. Mary/Milk system from that source are essentially exhausted for the season.
The Milk River is the primary irrigation source for Blaine County's irrigated acreage through the Milk River Irrigation Project (Bureau of Reclamation). With no snowpack remaining and the water year already ranked as the 1st driest year-to-date in 132 years of record (January–February 2026), Milk River streamflows are expected to be critically low entering the irrigation season. Wheat producers dependent on spring precipitation face a particularly difficult year — the county is 100% in drought, with D2 (Severe Drought) covering 85% of the county.
| Station | Elev (ft) | SWE (in) | % of Median | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Boy | 4,730 | 0.0 | 0% | Hill Co — Bear Paw Mtns; Beaver Creek → Milk River |
| Many Glacier | 4,930 | 0.0 | 0% | Glacier Co — Swiftcurrent drainage → St. Mary R → Milk River diversion |
Basin Index: Bear Paw Mountains (Rocky Boy 0%) — snowpack gone. St. Mary headwaters (Many Glacier 0%) — snowpack gone. No stored mountain water remaining for Milk River supplement. All runoff and river flows are now entirely dependent on current-season precipitation.
Drought Monitor: 100% of Blaine County in drought as of March 31, 2026 — D2 (Severe Drought) covers 85.22% of the county, D1 (Moderate Drought) the remaining 14.78%. The 2026 water year is the driest year-to-date in 132 years of record through February.
Rancher and Farmer Implication: Blaine County is facing one of its worst spring water supply setups in recent memory. With zero snowpack in both the Bear Paw Mountains and the Glacier headwaters, Milk River irrigators should expect severely restricted delivery windows and possible curtailment under the Bureau of Reclamation's allocation rules — Fort Belknap Reservation's senior Winters Doctrine rights will be filled first under any shortage. Wheat producers face below-normal soil moisture entering the growing season; spring wheat germination and early growth will be entirely dependent on April–May precipitation. Dryland hay and pasture are in poor condition. Ranchers in the Bear Paw Mountains area should plan for reduced summer range capacity and earlier-than-normal supplemental feeding needs.
Forage & Range Conditions
Drought Monitor (valid 03/31/26): D2 (Severe Drought) across 85.22% of Blaine County; D1 (Moderate Drought) across the remaining 14.78%. The entire county is classified in drought — no area is drought-free. This is the most severe county-wide drought classification in the current monitoring period.
Soil Moisture: Soil moisture is critically deficient across Blaine County entering spring. The 1st-driest year-to-date in 132 years (January–February 2026) has depleted both shallow and subsoil moisture reserves. There has been no meaningful precipitation recharge since late 2025. Subsoil deficits are deep and will require sustained above-normal April–May precipitation to partially recover — a one-time rain event will not be sufficient.
Pasture & Range: Dryland pasture and native range are coming out of winter in very poor to poor condition. The Bear Paw Mountains range, which forms the summer grazing base for many Blaine County cow-calf operations, is starting from a severely depleted moisture base. Early turnout onto drought-stressed range risks overgrazing already-weakened perennial grasses. Irrigated pasture along the Milk River will depend entirely on available water delivery — shortages are likely given current streamflow forecasts.
Near-term Outlook: The 2026 grazing season is shaping up to be severely challenging. With no snowpack buffer, 100% county drought, and the driest water year in 132 years of record, Blaine County producers should plan for reduced stocking rates, earlier weaning, possible early sales to reduce herd size, and elevated supplemental feed costs. April precipitation is the last realistic opportunity for meaningful soil recharge ahead of the growing season. The first-cut hay crop is at serious risk on dryland ground.
Water Rights & Land Ownership
Blaine County Water Rights & Land Ownership →
Interactive watershed map, Montana Cadastral parcel viewer, and WRQS search for Blaine County.
Blaine County water rights are anchored by the Milk River, which flows east across the county before continuing into Phillips and Valley counties on its way to the Missouri. The Milk River Irrigation Project, operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, is the county's largest surface water delivery system, diverting water from the Milk River to irrigate agricultural lands. However, the Project's supply is subject to the senior water rights of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, whose Winters Doctrine rights — established by federal reserved water law dating to the 1908 Winters v. United States Supreme Court decision — are among the most senior claims on the Milk River. In shortage years, these senior rights are satisfied first, potentially curtailing junior agricultural diversions. The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) maintains the priority system through the Water Rights Query System (WRQS). The Milk River's upper reach is also influenced by the St. Mary Diversion, a Bureau of Reclamation structure that moves water from the St. Mary River near Babb, MT, into the North Fork of the Milk River — a key source of additional flow that is now exhausted for the 2026 season.
Hay & Winter Feed
Blaine County's irrigated acres along the Milk River support hay production, though the county is more cropland-dominant than many neighboring Montana counties — spring wheat, winter wheat, and barley are the primary crops on dryland ground. Irrigated hay meadows along the Milk River bottom provide a critical forage source for cow-calf operations, but the 2026 season poses serious supply risks given Milk River irrigation shortages. Montana alfalfa hay averaged approximately $190–$220/ton in 2023–2024 (USDA NASS Prices Received), and prices may rise further if regional drought continues to suppress hay production across north-central Montana. Producers facing hay shortfalls in 2026 may need to source from central Montana or western Montana markets, with transportation costs adding significantly to feed budgets.
Wheat straw from Blaine County's grain operations provides supplemental bedding and low-quality roughage but is not a substitute for quality hay in maintaining cow body condition through the calving period. Operations with limited hay reserves entering spring 2026 should evaluate herd condition scores now and plan culling or purchase decisions before summer grazing further strains reserves.
Cattle Production
Blaine County supports an estimated 55,000–70,000 cattle and calves (USDA NASS, 2017 Census of Agriculture; 2022 update not yet available from accessible sources). Operations range from large commercial cow-calf ranches in the Bear Paw Mountains and surrounding benchlands to mixed grain-livestock operations in the wheat belt. The Bear Paw Mountains provide valuable summer range — BLM and U.S. Forest Service grazing allotments in the Bear Paw area allow operations to rotate cattle to elevation during summer, reducing grazing pressure on deeded ground. However, in drought years like 2026, permit holders should anticipate possible early removal orders from federal allotments if range conditions deteriorate below threshold standards.
Fall weaned calves from Blaine County typically move to Chinook-area order buyers or haul to the Billings Livestock Commission, the Glasgow Livestock Auction (Valley County), or the Northern Livestock Video Auction. The Hi-Line location gives Blaine County producers access to markets in both eastern and central Montana. Operations in the Bear Paw Mountains area may also look to Havre (Hill County) for local auction activity.
County Logistics
Chinook sits on US-2 roughly 110 miles east of Havre and 40 miles west of Malta. Interstate access requires a run south on US-87 toward Great Falls or east-southeast toward Glasgow and on to I-94. Most cattle truck to Billings (approximately 4 hours via US-87 and I-90) or Glasgow (roughly 1.5 hours east on US-2) for sale. Spring road bans on county roads can restrict heavy truck movement during breakup — typically late March through mid-April in normal years, though the dry 2026 season may accelerate road conditions. Grain moves by truck to the Hi-Line rail elevator system (BNSF), with elevators in Chinook, Harlem, Zurich, and Lohman serving the county's wheat producers.
Data Sources
- USDA NRCS National Water and Climate Center — SNOTEL daily SWE (Rocky Boy #917, Many Glacier #613)
- USDA NASS — county cattle inventory and agricultural census data (2017 Census of Agriculture; 2022 Census of Agriculture)
- USDA Market News — hay and livestock prices
- NOAA Climate Prediction Center — temperature and precipitation outlooks
- USDA Drought Monitor — current drought classification (valid 03/31/26)
- Bureau of Reclamation — Milk River Project and St. Mary Diversion
Market Structure: Feedlots & Processing Access
The closure of the former Nebraska slaughter facility in January 2026 has increased reliance on Colorado processing capacity, tightening competition for slaughter slots and increasing freight pressure across the Northern Plains.
Feedlots Serving Blaine County
North Dakota (Primary Backgrounding)
Dickinson region (~120–180 miles)
Key backgrounding destination tied to grain and feed availability
Montana Hi-Line (Local/Regional)
Regional backgrounding operations (~50–150 miles)
Initial weight gain before out-of-state movement
Western South Dakota (Secondary Staging)
Belle Fourche / St. Onge (~250–350 miles)
Intermediate routing option before final placement
Nebraska (Primary Finishing)
Ogallala region (~500–650 miles)
Important finishing destination, though impacted by 2026 capacity shifts
Colorado (Secondary Finishing)
Greeley / Kersey (~650–750 miles)
Final finishing destination with longest haul exposure
Processing Plants
- JBS – Greeley, CO (~700 miles)
- Cargill – Fort Morgan, CO (~730 miles)
- National Beef – Dodge City, KS (~850+ miles, secondary market)
Long-distance reliance on Colorado processing combined with the 2026 Nebraska closure creates elevated freight costs, limited slaughter access, and increased timing risk.
Market Access Summary
- Strong integration with North Dakota backgrounding systems
- Multi-stage routing through ND and South Dakota before finishing
- Longest average freight distances among Montana counties
- Highest exposure to regional slaughter capacity constraints
- Greater price variability due to transportation and routing complexity
Blaine County — 2023 Cattle Movement
Source: Montana Department of Livestock, BE-10 brand inspections. Released to Honest Cattle under public-records request. BE-10 inspections are recorded at change of ownership or interstate movement, so totals reflect transactions, not the standing herd.
Top destinations outside Montana
| State | Head | Share of county total |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 3,651 | 11.2% |
| Minnesota | 3,207 | 9.8% |
| South Dakota | 1,761 | 5.4% |
| Iowa | 1,361 | 4.2% |
| Colorado | 1,132 | 3.5% |
When Blaine County cattle moved in 2023
Notes: A single animal can be inspected more than once in a year if it changes hands or moves across state lines twice; destination is the buyer's state of record, which is usually but not always the final feedlot. Inspection county = where the inspection took place (often an auction yard or shipping point), not necessarily where the cattle were raised. Data covers cattle only (BE-10) and excludes horse and bison inspections.