Judith Basin County, Montana
Central Montana · Stanford · Judith River headwaters · between Little Belt and Big Snowy mountains
- Check current snowpack, drought, streamflow, and soil moisture before stocking, hay buying, or destocking.
- See where Judith Basin 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 3 brand inspector and verify cattle-buyer bonds before consigning.
Snowpack · SWE
Snow Water Equivalent — water that would result if today’s snowpack melted now.
Water-Year Precip
Total precipitation since Oct 1 — the start of the NRCS water year.
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.
Judith Basin County in context
Adjacent counties in the the Little Belt mountain front. Judith Basin County shares the Little Belt and Big Snowy mountain snowpack with these neighbors.
Click any neighbor for its full county dashboard.
Snowpack & Moisture Detail
SNOTEL station-by-station read for Judith Basin County. The dashboard above gives current aggregate; this section shows where the water actually is.
Judith Basin County snowpack is at or above median at all 1 reporting stations at the last spring reading (June 4, 2026). Snowpack has since melted out for the season, so this section shows how the 2026 snow season ended, not current conditions. One SNOTEL station monitors county snowpack. Judith Basin County watershed snowpack near or above normal (Spur Park 96% of median).
| Station | Elev (ft) | SWE (in) | % of Median | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spur Park | 8,080 | 3.1 | 96% | Judith Basin County — elevation 8080 ft |
Basin Index: Judith Basin County watershed snowpack near or above normal (Spur Park 96% of median). Drought Monitor (valid 2026-09-08): Worst class D2 (severe) over 0.2% of the county. Coverage at or worse than each class: D0 100%, D1 64%, D2 0.2%, 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) · Judith Basin County · as of 2026-09-17
| Period | Window | Rain (in) | Normal (in) | % of Normal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prior 2 weeks (observed) | Sep 3 – Sep 16, 2026 | 0.32 | 0.94 | 34% |
| Next 2 weeks (forecast) | Sep 17 – Sep 30, 2026 | 0.84 | 0.70 | 120% |
Observed detail: 3 measurable-rain day(s) in the prior two weeks; largest single day 0.17 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
The Judith River originates near Sapphire in the southern Little Belt Mountains and flows northeast through Stanford before entering Fergus County. Warm Spring Creek and Yogo Creek are key early tributaries feeding the upper basin.
The upper Judith system supports irrigated hay production in the Stanford valley and limited grain-land moisture supplementation. Senior rights on Warm Spring Creek and the mainstem date to the 1890s, with most valley floor rights established by 1910. Yogo Creek, draining the site of the historic Yogo sapphire mine, carries modest but reliable flows. The basin is not heavily over-appropriated at the headwaters, though late-season flows can drop sharply in dry years. Stock water developed springs from the Little Belt foothills provide secondary sources for upland range operations.
Federal Grazing Leases
BLM and U.S. Forest Service permitted grazing on public-land allotments · Judith Basin County
| System | Allotments | Permitted use | Public acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLM | 22 | 987 AUMs | 8,172 |
| U.S. Forest Service | 26 | 12,119 head-months | 167,594 |
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 Judith Basin 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 1,196,600 acres · land in farms 692,347 acres (58% of the county).
🗺 Open the interactive land map for Judith Basin 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 | 42,310 | 61,319 |
| Spring wheat | 11,382 | 13,000 |
| Durum wheat | — | 524 |
| Barley | 22,193 | 35,256 |
| Oats | 3,020 | 338 |
| Corn | withheld | 1,361 |
| Alfalfa hay | 51,049 | 147,029 |
| Other hay | 10,525 | 47,932 |
| Dry peas | 2,943 | 453 |
| Lentils | 1,643 | 804 |
| Chickpeas | 880 | 1,702 |
| Safflower | withheld | 57 |
| Canola | 2,577 | 1,226 |
| Flaxseed | 999 | 565 |
| Sorghum | — | 75 |
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) | 231,032 | 323,548 | 247,885 |
| of which harvested | 151,697 | — | — |
| Irrigated land | 11,086 | — | 8,458 |
| Pasture & rangeland | 449,959 | 556,172 | 507,147 |
| Forest / woodland | 6,790 | 293,915 | 285,316 |
| Developed | — | 12,858 | — |
| Water & wetlands | — | 10,512 | — |
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
11,086 USDA Census harvested irrigated cropland, 2022 | — DNRC mapped remote-sensed irrigated extent | 8,458 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 Judith Basin 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 Judith Basin County.
Cattle production
Judith Basin runs a mix of cow-calf and retained stocker operations on native bunchgrass range between the mountain ranges. The county’s sheltered position allows for earlier spring green-up than neighboring plains counties, and some operators background calves into November before selling at Lewistown or Great Falls. A handful of operations hold Lewis and Clark National Forest allotments in the Little Belt Mountains. Dryland wheat farms are interspersed with cattle ranches throughout the basin, and some diversified operations run both.
Hay & winter feed
Flood-irrigated alfalfa and grass hay is produced along Warm Spring Creek and the upper Judith River valley, with first cutting typically in early-to-mid July. Irrigators hold relatively senior Judith River rights and most valley operations can complete two cuttings in wet years. Dryland hay on the surrounding benchlands provides backup tonnage but yields are highly year-dependent. Spring moisture through June is the primary determinant of dryland hay quality.
Logistics · sale barns & trucking
Stanford is the county seat on US-87, which runs south to White Sulphur Springs and north to Great Falls — roughly 65 miles to Great Falls. Most cattle are sold at Lewistown Livestock Auction in adjacent Fergus County or trucked directly to Billings or Great Falls feeders. The county’s small size and low cattle density mean local trucking infrastructure is minimal; producers typically contract out-county haulers.
Licensed Processing Plants
No federally inspected or state-inspected processing plant currently operates in Judith Basin 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.
Judith Basin 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 34,672 | 45.2% |
| Nebraska | 4,600 | 6% |
| Colorado | 3,115 | 4.1% |
| South Dakota | 2,054 | 2.7% |
| Iowa | 1,947 | 2.5% |
When Judith Basin 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.