McCone County in context

Adjacent counties in the the Redwater and Fort Peck corridor. McCone County shares the upper Missouri reservoir system with these neighbors.

Click any neighbor for its full county dashboard.

Snowpack & Moisture Detail

SNOTEL station-by-station read for McCone County. The dashboard above gives current aggregate; this section shows where the water actually is.

McCone County’s surface water picture is defined by Fort Peck Reservoir on its northern edge and the Redwater River flowing south through the county toward the Yellowstone. Neither source originates in McCone — both depend on upstream snowpack in the Little Rockies, Bearpaws, and Rocky Mountain front far to the west. Local stock dams supplement river-based sources across the interior plains.

Basin Index: Redwater River and Fort Peck Reservoir pool levels reflect upstream Missouri system snowpack; local runoff is minimal on the flat plains. Drought Monitor (valid 2026-09-08): Worst class D1 (moderate) over 12% of the county. Coverage at or worse than each class: D0 100%, D1 12%, 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) · McCone County · as of 2026-09-17

Observed detail: 4 measurable-rain day(s) in the prior two weeks; largest single day 0.68 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

McCone County drains into the Missouri system via the Redwater River, which passes through Circle before joining the Yellowstone near Glendive, and via direct Fort Peck Reservoir tributaries on the north.

The Redwater River carries the county’s primary surface water rights, with senior appropriations dating to the early 1900s used for stock water and limited flood irrigation of hay ground near Circle. Fort Peck Reservoir, impounded in the 1930s, is a federal project operated by the Army Corps of Engineers; reservoir pool access for stock is generally available but not a senior water right in the traditional sense. Irrigation is limited compared to Dawson County to the east; most hay production relies on sub-irrigation in Redwater bottoms. Drought years see the Redwater drop sharply by July, stressing junior rights holders first. Secondary stock water comes from earthen dams across the gently rolling plains interior. No major irrigation district serves McCone County.

Federal Grazing Leases

BLM and U.S. Forest Service permitted grazing on public-land allotments · McCone County

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 McCone 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 1,691,024 acres · land in farms 1,127,416 acres (67% of the county).

🗺  Open the interactive land map for McCone County →
See crops, range, irrigated fields, public land and ownership parcels drawn live on the map.

Principal crops — official vs. satellite

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

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

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 McCone 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 McCone County.

Cattle production

McCone runs a mix of cow-calf and yearling stocker operations, with most outfits in the 150–400 head range. The Redwater River bottoms support some smaller operations with hay base, while larger outfits on the open plains run more extensive range programs. Some operators trail or truck to summer BLM pasture. Calf sales typically route to Glendive or Miles City in fall.

Hay & winter feed

Native grass and alfalfa mixed hay from Redwater River bottoms is the primary local source, with flood irrigation off the river the dominant system. Cutting runs late July into August. Most large operators supplement with purchased hay. Hay outlook tied to Redwater flows through late June irrigation season. [draft — verify against current conditions]

Logistics · sale barns & trucking

Glendive Livestock Exchange is the closest major sale barn, roughly 90 miles southeast on MT-200. Circle on US-200 is the county seat and primary supply hub. Trucking to Billings runs about 3 hours. Limited rail access; most livestock movement is by truck via US-200.

Licensed Processing Plants

No federally inspected or state-inspected processing plant currently operates in McCone 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.