MSU Cattle Research
Independent research from Montana State University with direct bearing on a Montana cow-calf operation — range and winter grazing, herd records and genetics, forage and water safety, and the economics of the trade. Honest Cattle summarizes each study in plain language and links you to the source.
Grazing & Range Management
The strongest fit with Honest Cattle’s GIS and county tools — turning GPS-collar range science into map-based decisions about supplement placement, water distance and winter grazing distribution.
Foraging ecology & management of beef cattle wintering in the central Rocky Mountains
Noah Gene Davis · 2025 · PhD dissertation
Honest Cattle summary Using GPS collars, researchers found winter forage quality shifted quickly with the weather, and that protein supplementation reduced how hard and how long cattle grazed while spreading them across more of the landscape — onto higher ground and farther from water. For Honest Cattle this is a map problem: where you place supplement, water and winter pasture changes how cattle actually use the country.
Note: Measured from GPS-collared cattle at specific sites — read it as a pattern to plan around, not a fixed stocking prescription.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Dormant season grazing of northern mixed grass prairies: effect of supplementation and winter environmental conditions on beef cattle grazing behavior, residual vegetation conditions and variation in supplement intake
Samuel Aaron Wyffels · 2019 · PhD dissertation
Honest Cattle summary Hand-fed cattle stayed near the supplement and grazed less; self-fed cattle ranged wider. Individual supplement intake varied a great deal from animal to animal — younger cattle ate their supplement more consistently. The practical takeaway: where you feed changes where they graze, and a “herd-average” supplement figure hides big differences between individual cows.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
What Montana Ranchers Say They Need
A read on where Montana producers actually want help — and how they keep records today.
A needs assessment of operational and production practices of Montana beef producers
Makayla Rae Paul · 2024
Honest Cattle summary In a survey of Montana beef producers, the areas producers most wanted to learn about were cattle marketing, range management and virtual fencing. The author also recommends better accounting and record-keeping tools. Many still keep records in a pocket notebook, and pregnancy rate is the single most commonly recorded herd measure; cost was the main barrier to adopting new tools. Honest Cattle reads this as direct validation of where we’ve focused — market intelligence, county-level range data, and simple records that actually change a decision.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Genetics & Herd Longevity
Selection and records that keep cows in the herd longer.
Importance of foot and leg structure for beef cattle in forage-based production systems: characterizing foot and leg scores for Montana Angus cattle
Taylre Elizebeth Sitz · 2023
Honest Cattle summary Across 4,723 Angus cattle, foot problems rose sharply with age and shifted toward the hind feet in mature cows, and differences between sire lines supported selecting on foot-angle and claw-set EPDs. Actionable for bull buying and culling — a case for standardized foot scores and recurring inspection reminders in herd records.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Forage & Water Safety
Two results worth a checklist before cattle go out — one a clear warning, one a carefully bounded reassurance.
Introducing cover crops as a fallow replacement in the Northern Great Plains: I. Evaluation of cover crop mixes as a forage source for grazing cattle
Samuel A. Wyffels et al. · 2021
Honest Cattle summary Cool-season cover-crop mixtures were generally the best fit when terminated in early July, but every mixture tested reached unsafe nitrate levels in at least one year. The researchers’ bottom line is blunt and immediately useful: test for nitrates before you turn cattle onto cover crops.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Influences of increasing levels of sulfate in drinking water on the intake and use of low-quality forages by beef cattle
Samuel A. Wyffels et al. · 2023
Honest Cattle summary Under the tested conditions — cattle on low-quality forage receiving a protein supplement containing up to 25% salt — sulfate in stock water up to 1,420 mg/L had little effect on intake, digestion or rumen fermentation.
Note: This is a specific, carefully qualified experimental result, not a universal “safe water” threshold. Stock water still warrants testing pasture by pasture.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Market & Economics
Research that lines up with Honest Cattle’s market-analysis identity.
Searching for the ultimate cow: the economic value of RFI at bull sales
Tyrel James McDonald · 2010
Honest Cattle summary Buyers paid a premium for feed-efficient (low-RFI) bulls, but the premium was smaller than the trait’s estimated feed-cost savings — and birth weight, gain and age moved sale prices more. A natural fit for Honest Cattle’s market work: explain RFI, weigh its long-run feed value against what the premium actually costs, and track RFI premiums in sale catalogs.
Note: The dollar figures are 2010-vintage and should be recalculated against current feed and sale prices before acting on them.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Background & Context
Older work that remains useful for framing — but whose numbers should be recalculated with current prices.
Beef cattle management decisions relating to drought in the Northern Great Plains
Rosanne E. Kruse · 2002
Honest Cattle summary April–June precipitation reasonably predicted forage production by July 1, and early weaning modeled lower purchased-feed costs and higher cumulative margins than holding the normal cow–calf arrangement through a drought.
Note: An older study — the margin figures should be recomputed with current prices before acting on them. The ScholarWorks record has no abstract, so check the full thesis before citing these figures.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Where are the beef cattle? An economic analysis of the changes in the cattle cycle
Rebecca Elizabeth Mondics · 2013
Honest Cattle summary High hay prices, a changed producer response to feeder prices, and wider crop-insurance use helped explain why cattle inventories stopped following their once-regular cycle — useful background for reading today’s market.
Note: The analysis dates to 2013; treat it as context, not a current forecast.
Read the full study and abstract at Montana State University ScholarWorks.
Extension & Ag-Economics Publications
Beyond the research theses, MSU’s Extension agents and agricultural economists publish practical guides, market and policy analysis, and ready-to-use budget tools. The most rancher-relevant, linked to the source:
MSU Extension for Ranchers
Practical publications from MSU Extension agents and specialists — current, maintained, and meant to be used. Several are the working companion to the research above. Read each at the MSU Extension Store.
Foot Scoring Beef Cattle
MontGuide MT202402AG · Taylre Sitz, Tim DelCurto & Megan Van Emon · 2024
Honest Cattle note The hands-on companion to the foot-structure study above — how to score feet and legs in your own herd so you can cull and select for longevity on rangeland.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Bull Selection Using Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs)
MontGuide MT202001AG · Kari Lewis & Wendy Becker · 2020
Honest Cattle note How to read EPDs and buy bulls that fit your herd’s goals — the practical bridge to the RFI bull-value economics above.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Bull Breeding Soundness
MontGuide MT201901AG · Megan Van Emon, Colleen Buck & Molly Hammond · 2019
Honest Cattle note Pre-breeding bull exams — cheap insurance against a pen of open cows next fall.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Dystocia in Beef Cattle
MontGuide MT202501AG · Van Emon, DelCurto-Wyffels, Clark & Mangan · 2025
Honest Cattle note Calving difficulty in beef cattle — what causes it and how to manage it at calving time. A companion to the bull-selection and breeding-soundness guides above.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Grazing Leases
MontGuide MT201601AG · Kate Binzen Fuller & Jeff Mosley · rev. 2021
Honest Cattle note How to set and structure grazing-lease rates, with suggested Montana stocking rates — the economics behind every pasture handshake. For public-land allotments, see Honest Cattle’s Grazing Leases in Montana map.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Animal Unit Month (AUM) Lease Rates
MontGuide MT202103AG · Kate Binzen Fuller, Molly DelCurto & Jeff Mosley · 2021
Honest Cattle note How to compute AUM rental rates — the unit Montana grazing is actually priced and negotiated in.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP)
MontGuide MT201501AG · Kate Binzen Fuller, George Haynes, James B. Johnson & Vince Smith · rev. 2015
Honest Cattle note FSA coverage for grazing and forage losses — drought-relief economics worth understanding before the dry year, not during it.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
How Montana Agriculture Can Respond to Changing Weather and Climate Patterns
MontGuide MT201704AG · Mills-Novoa, Boone, Brown, Bauer & Sarchet · rev. 2017
Honest Cattle note Flexible-stocking and drought-resilience strategies — the management companion to the drought-decisions research above.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Forage Nitrate Analysis: What Method to Use?
MontGuide MT201817AG · Emily Meccage, Zach Miller & Danielle Peterson · rev. 2019
Honest Cattle note How to test drought-stressed forage for nitrate — the how-to behind the cover-crop nitrate warning above.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Nitrate Toxicity of Montana Forages
MontGuide MT200205AG · Goosey, Carr, King, Jones & Severson · rev. 2024 · MSU Animal & Range Extension
Honest Cattle note Which forages and weeds accumulate toxic nitrate in drought, and how to manage grazing and feeding around it.
Read it at MSU Animal & Range Extension.
Precision Agriculture: Concepts and Opportunities for Montana Producers
MontGuide MT202502AG · Pinto, Sapkota, Nugent & Wyffels · 2025
Honest Cattle note An overview of precision-agriculture tools for Montana producers, including a section on virtual fencing — one of the topics producers in the needs-assessment study above most wanted to learn about.
Read it at the MSU Extension Store.
Ag Economics & Cattle Markets
Market and policy economics from the MSU Department of Agricultural Economics & Economics and its Agricultural Marketing Policy Center (AMPC). AMPC’s numbered paper series is archival (through 2019) — authoritative on how cattle markets work, but read the dollar figures as of their date, not today. The Center itself is still active through its annual Agricultural Economics Conference (next: Friday, October 30, 2026). The enterprise-budget spreadsheets at the end still download, but MSU no longer maintains them.
The Impacts of Resuming Canadian Cull Cow and Processing Beef Imports on U.S. Cull Cow Prices
AMPC Briefing Paper 84 · Gary W. Brester, John M. Marsh & Brenna Grant · 2007
Honest Cattle note Cull- and boning-cow price economics — background for the cull-cow prices Honest Cattle reports in its weekly forecast.
Read it at the MSU Agricultural Marketing Policy Center.
Managing Price Risk through the Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) Insurance Plan in the Western U.S.
AMPC Policy Paper 56 · J.B. Johnson, V.H. Smith & J.P. Hewlett · 2019
Honest Cattle note AMPC’s guide to Livestock Risk Protection price insurance for cattle — still useful for how LRP works.
Note: Written in May 2019, before the 2020–21 LRP changes (larger premium subsidies, premium billed at the end of the endorsement, higher head limits). Check current rules with USDA RMA or your crop-insurance agent. The LRP Corner in each Honest Cattle weekly forecast quotes current Montana coverage prices.
Read it at the MSU Agricultural Marketing Policy Center.
Managing Forage Production Risk in the Western States: The Role of PRF Rainfall Index Insurance
AMPC Policy Paper 57 · J.B. Johnson, V.H. Smith & J.P. Hewlett · 2019
Honest Cattle note Pasture, Rangeland & Forage rainfall-index insurance against drought forage loss — pairs with the drought research above and with the daily drought and forage readings on Honest Cattle’s Montana Counties page.
Read it at the MSU Agricultural Marketing Policy Center.
Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP): Montana
AMPC Policy Paper 32 · J.B. Johnson & V.H. Smith · 2010
Honest Cattle note Montana-specific drought forage-loss payments — how the program actually pays out.
Read it at the MSU Agricultural Marketing Policy Center.
Feed Grain Volatility and Effects on Feeder Cattle Producers
AMPC Briefing Paper 72 · John M. Marsh · 2005
Honest Cattle note How feed-grain price swings pass through to the feeder-calf bids you get.
Read it at the MSU Agricultural Marketing Policy Center.
Impacts on U.S. Cattle Producers from Changes in Retail Beef Demand
AMPC Briefing Paper 38 · John M. Marsh · 2003
Honest Cattle note How retail beef demand transmits back down the chain to the farm-gate price — the core of Honest Cattle’s market work.
Read it at the MSU Agricultural Marketing Policy Center.
Livestock & Forage Enterprise-Budget and Cow-Calf Tools
MSU Extension Farm Management · downloadable spreadsheets (2008–2012)
Honest Cattle note Downloadable cow-calf enterprise-budget, partial-budget and share-lease calculators — run your own numbers rather than borrow someone else’s.
Note: MSU Extension says it no longer supports these pages, and the tools date from 2008–2012. Update every price and cost input before you rely on the results.
Read it at MSU Extension Farm Management.
Studies are linked to their Montana State University ScholarWorks records. Prepared by Dirk Adams with the assistance of AI.