A slight breeze started as Adam Pedone prepared to launch the drone. “Not enough to worry about,” he smiled. The drone lifted off, looking like a giant insect, with a wingspan of 13 feet, eight propellers, flashing red and green lights, and weighing 150 pounds. 

For over a decade, attention-grabbing headlines sounded the alarm about the decline of honeybee populations, implying an agricultural collapse if we didn’t have them. Yet, native fruits and vegetables have survived for over 300 years, since European settlers brought them to the New World in 1682.  

The parking lot was bustling with horse trailers sporting license plates from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. Horses, children, dogs, parents – all convened at Miller’s Horse Palace, outside of Laurel, for the Montana Little Britches Rodeo series in late February.

In the heart of the West, Park County, Wyoming is gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration. In 2026, as our nation marks its semi quincentennial—250 years of that dream we call America—Cody’s proud Western traditions and time-honored celebrations will take on an extra spark of meaning and joy.  

With the blooming of spring, we often joke about, if we didn’t have dandelions we wouldn't have any type of green or color in our yard. I’ve always enjoyed having the chance to make the most of our natural resources. So, when those sweet and savory herbs start to share their goodness at our doorstep, it’s fun to be able to walk out and freshly pick from the golden bounty.

Spring has arrived!  Not that we have suffered through months of grueling winter: we are enjoying a late season snowstorm at the moment… Spring is the season of new life, it’s a time of hope as the land wakes up and blooms again. New life is sprinkled across the landscape with calves, lambs and foals arriving in pastures; and the sun stretches days into warm weeks. 

Dairy farm owners will do a lot of things for their cows, and at the Hippy Cow Creamy in Cody, Wyoming, they even dance for them. True story. The Hippy Cow Instagram features dancing sisters who refuse to take themselves too seriously, and the cows seem to like it that way. 

Located in Cody, Wyoming, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West brings together Western art, Plains Indian cultures, firearms innovation, frontier history, and the natural world of the Greater Yellowstone region. These ten highlights represent the core of the experience—works and exhibits that define the institution and leave a lasting impression long after the visit ends.

For the past seven seasons, Virginia and Jason Daughtery and their family have offered vibrant bouquets of home grown flowers to the Great Falls Farmers’ Market, as well as subscription customers and local retailers. But its tulips, offered during the winter season that make the farm extra special.  

“I found out in art school that I don’t like making things, I like fixing things,” Kailey Kerns began. Kailey is a cobbler, and a bit of an anomaly in a profession typically dominated by men.   

It takes artistic skill to be a cobbler - and the ability to understand the construction of boots and shoes - and how to use machinery twice as old as you are to repair them.

As a young girl, Claire Murnin had lofty dreams. She wanted to show cattle and be a princess. When she met Sally Yon, a former American Angus Queen, an everlasting goal was fostered.    

“She was like a Disney princess to me,” Claire said. “But she also showed cattle and I wanted to be like her. I wanted to show cattle and be a princess of Angus cattle too!” 

For as long as I can remember, the bright orange Farmers‘ Almanac has been part of my family’s life. My dad picked up a copy every year at Gamauf’s Hardware, and it was always kept at hand.   

“It’s a great day for preg testing,” Dr. Katie Rein said recently on a cloudy, 40-degree afternoon. “Cows do better when there are no shadows, so, it should go well.” 

Katie was pregnancy testing around 200 cows for one of her many clients. She’d driven from her clinic in Harlowton to the Sargent Ranch south of Shawmut. Everything was ready when she arrived.  

COLD!!  I knew it was going to be a cold day.  It was February. The house was cold, so I burrowed deeper under my quilts and thought about the day to come and the separation from my warm nest.   

My family was at our “Red Lodge House” for the weekend to take advantage of a fresh dump of snow on the Mountain…

As the orange and yellows colors of autumn transition to white blankets of snow, it's time to cozy in by the wood stove and let the warmth shake the cold from our bones. In our home, most evenings, our kitchen is filled with smells of baking bread, simmering soups, smoked meats, savory potatoes and sweet treats.

It’s the New Year and seed catalogues are beckoning us to look ahead to spring. Winter is the perfect time to plan summer gardens to be ready to go once the weather is warm enough for planting.  

Abraham Lincoln once said, “It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” 

As 2025 wound down, we visited the Producer Partnership facility near Livingston and met with rancher and founder, Matt Pierson. Matt started the non-profit just five years ago and has donated over 350,000 pounds of meat to schools and food banks across Montana.  

In 2006, the USDA coined the term “food insecurity,” as an official designation of not only hunger but also the lack of access to nutritious food. Fast forward to 2020 when food insecurity was running rampant because of the pandemic. Grocery stores, unable to keep stock on their shelves due to unstable food chains, forced many to turn to food banks to tide them over, causing extra strain on the system.  

Alli Allen, Miss Rodeo Montana 2025, recently returned from nine intense, activity-filled days at the Miss America Rodeo pageant in Las Vegas. She ended her year-long reign as a top ten finalist in the pageant and made her last public appearance at the Montana Circuit Finals in January.  

“Chase Hawks was a tough little guy,” Don Cooper recalled. “I met the little tyke when he was about two or three. He was sitting on top of a big ‘ole horse at a branding and wanted down. ‘Help me off this horse,’ he said to me. I was busy and I didn’t know him, so I ignored him. ‘Hey you SOB, help me off this horse!’ I looked around, ‘You talking to me?’ I asked him. ‘Yes, dammit, help me down!’”