Corder’s Corner

A rancher’s wife knows and understands that sleep during calving season is something to be savored. Deep sleep is unheard of, and typical nights are a combination of restless anxiety and wondering when the call to help will come in. For me, that was last night. My husband arrives home from the midnight check and the back door…

Market trends in farming and ranching serve as a fundamental basis of knowledge feeding or fertilizing if you will, several of Montana’s industries. As a certified crop advisor, agronomist, and a real estate broker for farms and ranches, I have been keeping tabs on the surging fertilizer costs causing strain on farmers, inflating prices of…

Twinkling lights line roof lines and glow off soft blankets of snow. Families trek up mountain paths to find the perfect tree. Shoppers bustle to try to find fitting gifts to stow under the tree for their loved ones. When you’re a child, this season is all about the anticipation of receiving. As an adult,…

Historically, the real estate market could be headed toward another crash mimicking the one that happened in 2008. However, there are a couple of differences that have experts predicting a plateau rather than a sudden drop or correction. In the years preceding the 2008 crash, mortgage lenders allowed some risky loans to go through without…

The information you obtain at weaning time can be the most crucial part of a cattleman’s livelihood. My daughter recently became involved in the registered Black Angus cattle industry and understands the learning curve on the different data points necessary to submit is vital. This does not exclude the data points that every commercial cattle…

Few things exist that can instill a sense of complete exhilaration and thrill like eagerly peering into a scope lining up crosshairs and trying to calmly exhale while squeezing the trigger. All morning, you’ve hid in the shadows waiting…There’s absolutely no one around, just the sun embracing your shoulders, the birds singing from the trees,…

Streaks of sunlight filter through the floating chaff and dust. Anxious and excited farmers breathe in the distinct smell of ripening wheat baking under the heavy glow of the hot summer sun. The dog days of harvest linger on as rural farmers hope to get all of their crops cut and safely to the grain…

As a landowner in central Montana, I appreciate the amount of work and effort it takes to keep fields maintained and healthy. Farming and ranching includes more than taking care of crops and livestock if you want to keep the value of your property. With a market as hot as this one, you need the…

It’s time. The coffee is done brewing and steams as you pour it in your thermos. You’ve got your dry fit thermal top and bottoms on and layers on top of that. The camo wear is comfortable and durable as you load up your gear. The crisp morning air makes you feel alive, and it…

Sizzling bacon! This market is hot! It is difficult to provide accurate statistics to show the influx in out-of-state buyers, but you cannot deny that sales in Montana have continued to upsurge. Real estate professionals and economists agree that 2020 held major changes for the market and attribute it to the new way we are…