Adaptive Ranching Workshop & Field Trip
Ranchers, range managers, scientists and others interested in healthy ecosystems and locally sourced food across Montana are invited to a two-day sustainable ranching workshop October 14-15 in Dillon, MT.
During the workshop, local and regional speakers will present on topics such as grazing and soil health, riparian habitat management, wildlife restoration and more.
7:30 – 8:00 a.m. Coffee, fruit, muffins and networking
8:00 – 8:15 a.m. Welcome—introductions and updates
8:15 – 9:30 a.m. Sara Keough, Integrative Eco-Nutritionist—From Soil to Gut: How Microbiomes Shape Human and Planetary Health
9:30 – 10:15 a.m. Dr. Clayton Marlow—One Size Won’t Fit All: Crafting Riparian Management Approaches for Your Environment and Operation
10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Cooper Hibbard, Seiben Live Stock Co.—Grazing Principles, Different Grazing Methods and Genetic Selection
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch provided, includes hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fruit, baked beans, chips. Gluten- or dairy-free options available. Hamburger is locally grown grass-fed beef.
1:00 – 2:15 p.m. Rancher Round Table, Adaptive Grazing Project pilot ranchers—Koy Holland, Jaime Wood, Colt High, Tony Johnson, Andrew Anderson, Heath Martinell, Pam Lyford or Hank Willemsma
2:15 – 3:15 p.m. Kelvin Johnson, Range Specialist, MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks—Grazing Practices in Milk River Riparian Habitat in North Central, Montana: Lessons Learned
3:15 – 3:30 p.m. Break
3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Jaye Wilde, Rancher, Preston Idaho—A Rancher’s Story of Bringing Beaver Back to Birch Creek, Idaho
4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Q&A with all presenters, sharing by participants and wrap-up
7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Film presented by the Good Food Network at the Depot Theater— “Groundswell”
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Meet at Rest Area in Twin Bridges—coffee provided
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Two stops—presenters include Dusty Crowe, BLM Assistant Field Manager; Kelly Savage, BLM Rangeland Management Specialist; Jaime Wood, Manager Hamilton Ranch; and Dr. Jeff Mosley, Extension Range Management Specialist, MSU
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch, sharing by participants and wrap-up
The event is presented by the Southwest Montana Sagebrush Partnership (SMSP), of which TNC is a part. Since 2023, SMSP has hosted spring and fall workshops in Montana's High Divide Headwaters region. The workshops share promising innovations and solutions to our most pressing challenges in rangeland and grazing management.
TNC offers cattle ranchers access to grass-rich pastures in exchange for adopting conservation practices on their own property.
In southwest Montana, The Nature Conservancy is partnering with ranchers to implement regenerative grazing tools such as virtual fencing.
Montana's Northern Great Plains encompass some of the largest and most significant native grasslands remaining in the United States.
