Agriculture Magazine September 2020

SEPTEMBER 2020

M A G A Z I N E

In this issue

Rules of the road, No-till practices & more!

POWDER COATING MEDIA BLASTING CERAKOTING 394 Old Corvallis Road • Hamilton

363-9191

in this issue St. John’s Wort..........................................5 Wether stone formation in goats............6 Rules of the road.......................................8 Fairgrounds foundation projects...........10 No-till practices.......................................11 Biocontrol of weeds...............................13 Agriculture mom.....................................15 Preserving the Flying E ranch................17 Agriculture Heritage Notebook............18

MAGAZINE How did you like this issue of Agriculture Magazine?

Do you have any ideas you’d like to share with us for our next issue?

Let us know. Send comments to: Ravalli Republic, 232 West Main, Hamilton, MT 59840 or editor@ravallirepublic.com.

Cover photo courtesy Isaac Miller Photographer.

Photos on this page provided by @fern_co.mt, Wendy Beye & Rivendell Farm.

Agriculture Magazine is published by the Ravalli Republic & Missoulian Newspapers, divisions of Lee Enterprises Jim Strauss, Publisher Perry Backus, Associate Editor Kathy Kelleher, Jack Ryan & Erica Hurt, Sales Dara Kilian, Production & Design Agriculture Magazine is copyright 2020, Ravalli Republic.

232 W Main, Hamilton, MT 59840 ravallirepublic.com

Page 4 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

PHOTO courtesy of the BITTERROOT CULTURAL HERITAGE TRUST

Ruffatto barns homesteader Mr. Trexler and first farmhouse.

Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 5

St. John’s Wort is rapidly spreading weed in Ravalli County Ravalli County Weed District

St. Johnswort is a rapidly spreading weed in Ravalli County, primarily on the west side of the valley. The Ravalli County Weed District works hard to educate our landowners on how to control this noxious weed on their own property. Here is some great information about this noxious toxic plant.

St. John’s wort, also known as “common St. Johnswort”, “Klamath weed”, “common goatweed”, and “tipton weed.”

It prefers poor dry, gravelly, or sandy soil in full sun. It can be found primarily in right-of-ways, roadsides, meadows, dry pasSt. Johnswort tures, rangelands, fields, open woods, waste places, and disturbed ground.

The perennial, upright forb typically grows one to two feet tall with numerous stems and somewhat woody at the plants base. Stems are reddish in color and can be single or multiple with two opposite longitudinal ridges. The stems can branch many times towards the top of the plant.

Leaves are lance-shaped, opposite on the stem, and on to two inches long with smooth margins.

Each leaf contains tiny pinpoints of holes which are visible when held up to the light. Flowers are yellow and star-shaped with five petals. Tiny black dots can be found along the edges of the petals. Those tiny black dots are the black oil glands. Flowers are found in clusters at the ends of the stems and are one inch or less in diameter.

Seeds are three sectioned pods filled with many dark brown seeds. Each plant can produce up to 100,000 seeds. St. Johnswort reproduces by an aggressive root system and by seeds.

The sticky seed capsules can be dispersed short distances by wind and longer distances by water and adhering to humans and animals. First year the plant does not produce flowers or seeds, and it may take two to several years to reach maturity. Flowering occurs from late spring through autumn. The seeds germinate throughout the spring and summer or following autumn rains. The seeds can remain viable in the soil for several years.

St Johnswort is native to Asia, Europe, and northern Africa.

The plant was introduced to the United States on multiple occasions by European settlers interested in the plant’s medicinal properties. It is believed that the weed escaped cultivation in Pennsylvania in 1793.

St Johnswort was established in many western states by the early 1900s. This plant is toxic to livestock when consumed and especially light-colored skinned animals. It can cause light sensitivity, as well. St. Johnswort is on the state weed list as a Priority 2B. Management tools are limited: Hand pulling will cause the remaining roots to grow and spread and create new plants. However very small infestations can be controlled by hand-pulling and digging, done diligently throughout the year and for up to 10 years. Pulled plants should be burned to destroy the seeds and root system. Mowing is ineffective because it will not sufficiently stress the plant. Tillage will not work; it will spread the plant further. If you are considering herbicides to treat the St. Johnswort, or have any questions about St. Johnswort or other noxious weeds please contact the Ravalli County Weed District at 777-5842.

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photo Rivendell Farm

Sometimes owners have seen the goats straining like they’re constipated and sometimes they’re just not quite right, maybe not eating like they normally do. These signs can indicate a urethral blockage, wherein stones that have been “growing” in the bladder end up in the urethra and stop urine from being able to pass, causing urine to “backup” and, without any treatment, a fatally ruptured bladder or urethra.

Stone formation not uncommon in male goats Dr. Magdalena Niedermeyer, Associate Veterinarian Burnt Fork Veterinary Clinic

One of the worst and unfortunately not uncommon small ruminant emergency calls often starts, “I have a wether (castrated male goat), and he is on his side crying out, and I’m not sure why.”

Sometimes owners have seen the goats straining like they’re constipated and sometimes they’re just not quite right, maybe not eating like they normally do. These signs can

indicate a urethral blockage, wherein stones that have been “growing” in the bladder end up in the urethra and stop urine from being able to pass, causing urine to “backup” and, without any treatment, a fatally ruptured bladder or urethra.

The problem with urinary blockages is that even with timely treatment, the prognosis is guarded to poor.

Owners often find themselves facing expensive surgery or euthanasia, and a wether that blocks once is more likely to re-obstruct. With

Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 7

that bleak backdrop in mind, I want to offer wether owners some management options to save you from ever having to make that call.

Of course, medicine is never black and white; however, we know there are several things that contribute To the formation of stones and urethral blockages. By considering these contributors to stone formation, we can try to manage diet/ husbandry to try and avoid ever having to deal with the aforementioned emergency call.

1) Obesity and a high “concentrate”/grain diet are big risk factors for the formation of urinary stones. A diet with a lot of grain in it can predispose the bladder to having a basic (high pH) environment because of a high phosphorus:alcium ratio. This allows certain types of stones known as struvites/calcium phosphates to form. If you have a wether, the reality is that a grass hay (and a free choice loose mineral/salt block combination) is usually enough for them, and they do not need the supplemental calories offered by grain or high carb treats. If you enjoy the bonding spent feeding your goat treats/a pellet (which is fair), you can use a 100% grass hay pellet, or occasional less sugary/starchy fruits/veggies as treats in moderation.

2) However, it is important to have forage (hay/grass) available free choice, as feeding hay in meals instead of free choice may increase the risk of urine stone formation. Free choice water also allows wethers to remain hydrated, which is imperative to reducing the risk of stone formation.

3) While a high phosphorous: calcium ratio can increase the risk of stones, the opposite is also true. High calcium (and low phosphorous/ magnesium) diets like lush rapidly growing clover pictures or alfalfa hay can predispose ruminants to different types of stones, including calcium carbonate/calcium oxalate stones.

4) Early castration (like banding at an early age) and castration in general, may potentially cause decreased adult urethral diameter. For

this reason, if you are planning on keeping your wethers solely as pets, you may want to consider surgically castrating at 3-4 months old, to allow longer “testosterone exposure,” especially in Nigerian dwarfs or pygmy goats, who are smaller in stature to begin with.

5) Wethers’ urine pH goal is ideally 5.5-6.5.

It is possible to measure your wether’s pH with “pool pH paper” and if you do notice that the pH is too high (>7), you can talk to your veterinarian about possible treatments.

None of these recommendations can guarantee that your wether will never have a urolith (urinary stone) issue. If you ever notice straining/pain/dribbling/inappetence, and do not observe urination, contact a veterinarian, as a urinary stone is a medical emergency. However, feeding your wether free choice grass hay and avoiding grains, while offering free choice water and minerals will help decrease the risk of being faced with this devastating emergency.

Page 8 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

provided photo

An issue that is important for all drivers of any vehicle on Montana roads, particularly on more private county roads that connect ranches and pastures in this great state, is how to safely and with courtesy, approach horse-back riders and livestock sharing these same roads.

Rules of the Road when passing horseback parties and livestock ROD FREEMAN Montana Ranch Properties

An issue that is important for all drivers of any vehicle on Montana roads, particularly on more private county roads that connect ranches

and pastures in this great state, is how to safely and with courtesy, approach horse-back riders and livestock sharing these same roads.

I ride our roads periodically and am often astonished with the lack of either courtesy or

Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 9

knowledge of the potential for a major incident involving either riders or livestock by drivers in general.

As I planned this article, I searched for a specific Montana highway law addressing this subject and have not found one to date. I did find this quotation of Rule 214 published in the UK: “When passing animals, drive slowly.

Give them plenty of room and prepare to stop.

Do not scare animals by sounding your horn, revving your engine, or accelerating rapidly once you have passed them. Look out for animals being led, driven, or ridden on the road and take extra care. Keep your speed down at bends and on narrow country roads. If a road is blocked by a herd of animals, stop, and switch off your engine until they have left the road.

Watch out for animals on unfenced roads.�

When approaching a horse back rider in a vehicle, it is important to understand that the horse is a flight animal by nature and that a driver can never assume that the rider of the horse is competent or that the horse has been properly schooled to react without fear to an approaching vehicle, particularly one approaching at a high speed.

A frightened horse can respond in numerous ways that could and often does result in the rider being thrown and injured, or worst

e n A Z Ia N e AmZ AI G M G a Z M A G I N E september 2017

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june 201

case, jumping into the path of the approaching vehicle, which can and does result in death or serious injury to the rider, the horse or the occupants of the vehicle. When approaching a horseback rider slow your vehicle down to no more than 15 miles per hour and never honk your horn or create any unusual noises.

When approaching livestock, particularly livestock being moved on a rural Montana road, stop your vehicle and turn off your engine until the livestock has passed if the herd is approaching you and do not attempt to pass livestock moving away from you until signaled to do so by the individuals in charge of the herd. The herders will signal where in the road it is safe to pass, if at all. Herders that are horse back and the livestock are all subject to injure themselves or you and your car or both.

It is common for ranchers and farmers to move their livestock from between pastures on our Montana rural roads, so treat them with courtesy and respect for the safety of all.

An issue that is important for all drivers of any vehicle on Montana roads, particularly on more private county roads that connect ranches and pastures in this great state, is how to safely and with courtesy, approach horse-back riders and livestock sharing these same roads.

March 2017

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4-H leade Manged intensive grazing Sugar beet history Raising hogs and more!

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M A G A Z I N E

A special publication by the Ravalli Republic.

Look for the next issue March 2021!

Page 10 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

Ravalli County Fairgrounds Foundation has long list of projects Joy McClure President, Ravalli County Fairgrounds Foundation Inc.

The Ravalli County Fairgrounds Foundation, Inc. primary purpose is to provide a facility and program venue that encourages agricultural, social, educational and cultural opportunities for the enrichment of the community. These objectives will be funded through public contributions, which will provide a continuing program of expansion and facility/grounds improvements.

The Foundation has always been there in the background, lending a helping hand for a multitude of projects. The foundation has supplied funding for landscaping, helped with replacing the rotting fascia on all of the barns, upgrading the sprinkler system, funding for new well houses, re-planting of trees and many other small projects that might have gone unnoticed.

This year we helped secure funding for the handicap platform in front of the grandstands. This handicap platform has been on the Fairgrounds Wish List for a very long time.

AARP granted us $5,000 to be used for removable seating and skirting for the platform. In the past anyone seated in the handicap area had a view that looked through chain link fencing and cattle panels. Not much of a view to say the least. As the Fairgrounds are now being used more and more this platform will be an important added improvement.

photo PROVIDED

Pavers are available to support the fairgrounds.

2. If the Fairgrounds had a designated storage area all Barns and Buildings could be rented out.

3. Insulating all Barns and Buildings so that they can be rented out year round instead of only 6-8 months of the year.

4. Underground sprinkler system. The system in place at this time requires a maintenance person 4 hours to move the system to the next settings.

5. More lighting. We desperately need improved lighting in both parking lots and around the Fairgrounds itself.

6. Upgrade Food Row. It’s in desperate need of a facelift.

The Ravalli County Fairgrounds Foundation, Inc. has one constant revenue stream: The Commemorative Paver Program.

The Pavers are the highlight of the South entrance to the Fairgrounds. As you walk across the pavers notice the number of engraved pavers. There are Business Names, Fair Families of the Year, Memoriam Pavers, Projects slated for the future: Pavers bearing the names of Shriners and 4-H’ers of the past and many of the old ranch1. Designated Storage for all Fair props, ing families. livestock panels, livestock cages and related If you would like to be a part of this program, equipment. Currently we have to move items in please call the Fair Office at 363-3411 for more information. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 orgaand out of different buildings as the buildings nization and gifts are tax deductible. are rented out for use.

Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 11

photo courtesy @fern_co.mt

Nestled on 10 acres below St. Mary Peak in Stevensville, Fern Co. has adopted no-till practices primarily to increase its soil fertility.

3 years ago, their soil was an acidic sandy loam with relatively low organic matter. Utilizing regenerative practices, Fern Co. has increased soil organic matter by 40% in only 3 years, thereby improving soil water retention.

No-till practices increase soil fertility JAMES HAYWARD Fern-Co Farm

Carbon, the building block of life, is stored in our soil in the form of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) through chemical processes and microbial life.

A growing body of research has consistently shown that the tilling of our soils, especially deep tillage, release large quantities of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide. The USA has been losing about 1% of its topsoil per year, a rate that is 10 times higher than we replenish. Conservative estimates show that we have about 60 years left before we lose vir-

tually all our topsoil in our nation unless agricultural practices are adjusted.

No-till regenerative agriculture isn’t a new idea, and has been growing in popularity around the world as people become aware of the benefit these practices have on their land. Nestled on 10 acres below St. Mary Peak in Stevensville, Fern Co. has adopted no-till practices primarily to increase its soil fertility. Three years ago, their soil was an acidic sandy loam with relatively low organic matter. Utilizing regenerative practices, Fern Co. has increased soil organic matter by 40% in only three years, thereby improving soil water retention. This sets the farm up to become

Page 12 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

resilient through future droughts.

A well-balanced and fertile soil is at the core of Fern Co.’s productivity.

“We look at our soil as our living savings account,” said Fern Co owner Jay Hayward.

“Each year, we pull out thousands of pounds of nutrient-dense vegetables from our fields, and although these vegetables are made up of mostly water, this is still a large volume of nutrients that are now gone from our fields.

If we don’t replenish at least this volume back into our fields each year, our soil would become less fertile and unbalanced. Unlike conventional farming practices that use fossilfuel derived fertilizers, regenerative farming allows us to build topsoil without disturbing its sensitive ecology. When we dig a few inches down into our field rows, we find a living soil teeming with insects and mycorrhizal fungi.

This subsurface ecosystem creates symbiotic relationships with our crops and reduces pest and disease pressure, among other benefits.”

Fern Co.’s long-term vision is to become a major supplier of nutrient-dense foods throughout the Pacific Northwest. Their aim is to have dozens of acres of intensive field crop production as well as develop large scale rotational grazing practices of livestock. Our farmlands should not be a burden to the health and longevity of our communities, they need to be places of regeneration, fertility and education for many generations to come.

Currently, you can find Fern Co.’s produce in a number of grocery stores throughout Ravalli County and each Saturday morning at the Hamilton Farmers Market. To meet the demand of this season’s CSA share, the company will be doubling field production to provide more shares to our community for the 2021 growing season.

To learn more about Fern Co. or to have any questions answered, please visit our website, www.fern-co.com or email us at info@fern-co. com.

photo courtesy @fern_co.mt

photo courtesy @fern_co.mt

Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 13

Ravalli County Weed District has successful biocontrol program The more stress the greater the reduction in Spotted knapweed.

The weather has The Ravalli County warmed up and Weed District writes Cyphocleonus acha grant each year ates has emerged. through the Montana Cypho’s are root Department of boring weevils and Agriculture Noxious one of the biologiWeed Trust Fund cal control agents grant program, and doug MCCONNAHA for the invasive speThe weather has warmed up and Cyphocleonus achates has emerged. we have been fortucies, Spotted knap- Cypho’s are root boring weevils and one of the biological control nate to receive fundweed. agents for the invasive species, Spotted knapweed. ing each year to help This biologithe program since 2005 and employ wonderful cal control was brought into America, from young boys and girls that live in our valley. For its natural habitat in Europe, and introduced, many of these students it is their first job. They after many years of studies, to Montana in 1988 really do learn so much. They learn about what thanks to our own MSU Experiment Station it’s like to have a real paying job, time managein Corvallis. Ravalli County residents have ment, working as a team, public speaking, writreceived these bugs through the Ravalli County ing reports, learning about noxious weeds and Weed district’s Youth Bio-Control work proof course they get to learn about nature and gram over the past 17 years. how to help protect our environment.

During this time of the year, you will see the The Ravalli County Youth Biological Control weevil in its adult stage. They will either be program consists of an adult leader and 4-6 clinging to the tops of the knapweed plants, in student’s ages 14-1/2 to 18 years old. The team the heat of the day, or at the base of the plants begins work about mid-June by doing comduring the cooler morning and evening hours. munity projects and weed pulls and then begin The adults will live between 8 and 15 weeks. collecting insects for Dalmatian Toadflax, Leafy Within their lifespan the females will mate spurge, St. Johnswort and then finally Cyphos on several different occasions and lay their for Spotted Knapweed. Our bio-control proeggs on the root crowns of spotted knapweed gram is well known as we ship our bugs all plants. The females can lay hundreds of eggs throughout Montana and surrounding states. in a season. It only takes between 10 to 12 If you are interested in Cyhocleonus achates, days, after being laid, for the eggs to hatch. other bio-control agents or more information The larval stage is the most destructive stage on the bio control project please contact Josh to knapweed. Upon hatching, the larvae mine at the Ravalli County Weed District Office at toward the center of the root, where they will 777-5842 or weed@rc.mt.gov or Facebook: Ravalli County Youth Bio- Control Program spend the winter causing stress to the plant.

RAVALLI COUNTY WEED DISTRICT

Page 14 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

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Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 15

photo courtesy ashley cousins

Working woman and mother making it work in the world of agriculture KRISTEN (BEAR) FRISBIE Flying D Ranch, Victor

It’s not everyday I write a newspaper article.

In fact, this is the first time. It should also be noted that I failed freshman English and have no business in the world of journalism.

With that said, I will tell you what I do know about: being a woman and mother in the world of agriculture. I manage The Flying D Ranch in western Montana along with two other women. I didn’t set out to have an all women run ranch. It was brought together by happenstance or divine design - I’ll leave the

interpretation up to you.

The Flying D Ranch isn’t the biggest outfit around. We usually run about 100 cow/calf pairs and hay about 200 acres. Some might argue that we’re not “real ranchers” but everyday we get up with the sun, work hard all day and fall into bed exhausted. We feed, hay, irrigate, doctor, sort, pregnancy check, ride, calve, and do our own mechanicing. That last one is a little questionable at times.

At any given moment you’ll find a handful of horses tied up ready for sorting, gathering, exercising, training, or simply in line to be

Page 16 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

shod by one of the gals. You’ll find kids sliding down the rump of their favorite mare as they are being grained and a group of littles piled on a four wheeler going out to move irrigation pipe. Someone will show up to look at a saddle, buy a half a beef, or pick up a few ton of hay. It’s a lovely bustle of energy and pure western goodness.

This life is rich and there is a fullness that comes with helping animals in their birth, sickness, and death. The value of these events is not lost on me or my family and I have not shielded my children from the way life is created or lost. Although this valuable knowledge received at an early age has been largely cultivated out of our society, I have seen a resurgence in folks wanting to get their hands dirty and to become more in touch with the land and their source of food. I find great encouragement and hope for our nation in this new-found longing for a more traditional lifestyle.

I could outline the struggles of trying to make it out of the red or what it feels like to be trying to succeed in a male dominated industry. I could articulate the fears I have of trying to carry on a tradition that is fading and a system that encourages bankruptcy; but the reality is that I love what I am doing.

There is no struggle that could convince me that I should do something else. What we do is important. Farming, ranching, agriculture, gardening, food preservation, raising animals, connecting with the land, working hard - it is gender and age non-specific and, in whatever amount, we should all be seeking to incorporate these things into our lives and families.

Bear is a full-time wife, mom, rancher, and real estate agent. She spends free time documenting her family life through photography and writing using various social media platforms. Her Instagram account has 11,000+ followers from all over the world in which she connects with people who have a desire to learn about Montana and ranching.

photo courtesy The Flying D Ranch

photo courtesy The Flying D Ranch

Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 17

A decision from the heart: Preserving the Flying E Ranch EMY ROYCE Bitter Root Land Trust

“You know, maybe I’m sacrificing a little bit, but it’s really, really minimal compared to what my grandmother and my dad did before me. They are the ones that held this place together.”

Dan’s eyes twinkled in the warm light of the afternoon sun that shone through tall, oversized windows in his upstairs family room.

You wouldn’t know it now, but for a time this room of the 120-year-old house on Severson’s Flying E Ranch was called “home” by chickens. That was decades ago, when world wars and economic decline took their toll on the Bitterroot Valley. The family, and the ranch, would prove to be stronger than their circumstances.

It was Dan’s grandmother, Toi Long Logan, who spent a lifetime caring for the ranch, working hard, and paying off debts, so they wouldn’t lose the land—all the while, putting herself and her two daughters through college. After World War II, Dan’s dad came home and got to work rebuilding the ranch right alongside the whole family.

When the ranch was passed down to Dan, he contemplated how to honor their sacrifice and hard work, and secure the future of the ranch.

A TURNING POINT Then, in 2006, Ravalli County voters passed the Open Lands bond program which provides

funding to conserve water, wildlife habitat, and working farms and ranches.

It’s communitysupported, marketdriven tools like the Open Lands Bond that make conservation an option for many landowners.

It was a turning point for Dan. To photo provided him, it meant that the people of this valley were willing to come together to protect our beautiful valley and rural way of life. After he and Debbie conserved the ranch in 2011, Dan recalls, “When my neighbors started telling me they were glad about what we did, that meant everything to me.”

Since then, over 3,400 acres have been conserved by 11 local families, in the Burnt Fork alone with the locally-based Bitter Root Land Trust. The area includes 15 miles of streams and creeks, varied wildlife habitat for birds, deer and elk, and large amounts of productive hay ground.

For Dan, it was a decision made 100% from his heart.

“The feeling of protecting this place—second only to seeing your kids grow up right. I have four kids—two sons and two daughters—and now it’s possible for this farm to continue for future generations of my family or another family that believes in the importance of agriculture for the community.”

Farmers and ranchers lead the way, caring for the land and people of the Bitterroot. That’s a legacy we can all be proud of and stand up for.

Page 18 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

Agriculture Heritage Notebook The Bitter Root Cultural Heritage Trust

interpretation and affirm cultural values.

works in partnership with families,

The Heritage Trust provides an article for

neighborhoods and communities to restore

each edition of Agricultural Magazine,

historic structures, bring back traditional

highlighting the Bitterroot Valley’s

events and celebrations, encourage

agricultural history and heritage.

Story & photos WENDY BEYE

My plan was to interview brothers Tom and Cliff Ruffatto in May, but mechanical failures and COVID-19 restrictions threw their respective monkey wrenches into that plan. Finally, on a miraculously smoke-free August day with no rain in sight, I drive up Bass Creek Road to visit the loquacious

Ruffatto boys. Though I am a bit early for my appointment with Tom, he is waiting for me on his shaded driveway, anxious to share his family story.

The farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings are all in good repair, and flowers brighten the yard.

The first thing Tom wants to show me is the bunk-

Agriculture Magazine, June 2019 - Page 19

Ruffatto Barns Feronato Family photo

house that shares space with half a dozen huge Ponderosa pines soaring into the blue sky.

Next to the bunkhouse is the old milk shed, and between the two buildings a four-foot diameter pine fills the space, pushing up on the bunkhouse roof. Tom points to the foundation and says, “That tree has raised the building a foot off its foundation!” He may someday need to build a ladder to access the door. I’m pretty sure the tree will never feel the bite of a chainsaw.

We stroll toward the barn that is perched above the Bass Creek floodplain. It has a good metal roof to protect the interior against rain and winter snow. Tom claims it needs some paint, but it still looks pretty fresh to me. The double doors slide open without much effort, and the interior is dry and clean, smelling of cut lumber and hay. Several sets of draft horse harness hang on the walls. The horses were still in use as Tom grew up, and he continued to enjoy working with the animals until

Homesteader Trexler’s first barn

recently. There are boxes of dinner plate-sized horseshoes, a giant blacksmith anvil, and a basin full of linseed oil for soaking harness leather in a workroom off the main barn alley.

On the ground floor near the west door is a wooden grate that covers a cavernous hole.

Next to it are several hollow wooden columns with openings exposing metal scoops mounted on rubber belts. I look up to the ceiling and see pulleys and shafts. Tom says grain was dumped through the grate, then picked up by the moving grain scoops and sent to the loft where there were four grain bins for storage. An engine drove the pulleys and shafts that moved the scoop belts.

From the loft, the grain could be sent back downstairs through a chute, mixed with supplements, and bagged for feed.

As we walk up the stairs to the loft, he points at an upside down clear teardrop globe mounted on the wall. “This is a fire extinguisher,” he says. “This

Page 20 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

little black cap on the neck pops off as the liquid heats when there is a fire. Then the retardant sprays out.” The globe can also be removed from the bracket and thrown onto a fire if someone is present in the barn when a fire starts. Fortunately, he’s never had to test the system. He says someone must have made the rounds in the Bitter Root, selling the idea and the equipment, perhaps following in the tracks of the lightning rod salesman.

The loft contains more old harness leathers, which are obviously unusable, but Tom says he uses the buckles when making repairs on other gear. We go back outside, and walk down toward the creek to look at the original barn built by homesteader Trexler. It’s built of logs and has a tin roof that he says is stamped “1910” on the underside of the sheets. The metal has a high lead content and is very malleable. He says the building used to be two stories, but is now only one level, and is useful as a shelter for livestock.

Tom and Cliff’s grandfather, Mario Feronato and his wife Mary moved to Montana in 1917, their travel expenses paid by American Crystal Sugar Company in exchange for two years of work in the sugar beet fields in the valley. The family came from Colorado, traveling in a railway boxcar loaded with all their household furnishings and the family milk cow.

Trexler’s homestead was owned at the time by Missoula banker George Brooks, who took it over when mortgage payments ceased. Trexler came to the Bitter Root Valley hoping to strike it rich with the gold mine he claimed further up Bass Creek Canyon. The Feronato family managed the ranch for the bank until they could afford to buy it.

The barn was built by local carpenter E.A. Neeley in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Trexler worked for the Feronatos during the winter months, borrowing horses from them to go work his gold mine when weather turned warmer. He had a cabin at the mine with “running water” - a creek that passed under a corner of his cabin all summer.

Mario and Mary had five children - all girls - and in a twist of fate, two of the girls married Ruffatto brothers, John and George.

John and George both served in the military during WWII. John met Frances Foronato on a

A ponderosa pine lifting bunkhouse off foundation.

Hay bales to help anchor west wall of the barn.

Agriculture Magazine, September 2020 - Page 21

Grandpa’s whiskey and brandy bottles.

A blacksmith’s anvil.

train from Stevensville to Oakland in 1944, where she had landed a U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station job. He proposed, married her in 1945, and went to school to become a lawyer in Missoula. George moved to the Bitter Root after the war ended from the family home in Brockton, Montana (near Glasgow). He had ten brothers and sisters, and no hope of inheriting enough land to ranch there.

George married Loretta “Babe” Feronato after working on her father’s ranch as a hired hand for a few years. The brothers left some tragedy behind in Brockton. According to the Glasgow Courier of July 5, 1918, two Ruffatto sisters, Josie, age 16, and Marie, age 10, were wading in the Missouri River with a young married friend, Mrs. Carl Larson, age 20. One sister stepped off the sandbar into a deep hole, and the other girls tried to save her. None could swim, and all three drowned.

Six months later, Mrs. Larson’s husband Carl, died in the influenza epidemic (Plentywood Producer’s News December 17, 1918).

Tom’s house was built around the original farmhouse erected by Trexler. He tells me he had to raise the whole house, move it aside, build a new foundation, and move it back into place. The only piece lost was the original chimney. The new foundation is built from “Bitter Root potatoes,” those round ball bearing granite rocks produced by glaciers moving out of the mountain range along the west side of the valley. There are plenty available on the ranch.

Cliff Ruffatto comes rumbling through the ranch yard on a bale wagon loaded with hay as I’m finishing up my conversation with Tom. He tells me I can head down the road to his barn and he’ll follow shortly. His property came into the family when it was purchased from Ed O’Hare by George Ruffatto.

O’Hare lived in Stevensville, raising prizewinning Beau Donald Herefords from the line founded by Curtice Martin who lived just south of the Bass Creek ranch. The First Annual Missoula Hereford Association sale in February, 1949, lists Feronato and O’Hare bulls, and the Feronato Ranch was featured on a valley Hereford tour that year. Cliff later tells me that he had to say goodbye to the last of his old-style horned Hereford cows this year. The old cow was the product of a

Page 22 - Agriculture Magazine, September 2020

great genetic line that is now no longer obviously visible on the ranch.

Cliff’s barn was built in about 1930, according to the Montana Appraisal Office. Its style of construction indicates that the carpenter was not E.A. Neeley, and it was built as a dairy barn rather than for housing draft horses. Wooden stanchions remain on the north side of the main alleyway. It has been lovingly cared for, and the loft was the site for Ruffatto brother basketball skirmishes as well as the wedding reception for Cliff and his wife Chris. They live in a cozy house that was built around a milk parlor. Chris is a talented fabric quilter, and crafted the painted “barn quilt” fastened to the east end of the barn. Cliff explains that the stack of straw bales piled next to the west wall in the loft is to keep the wall from tilting in when strong west winds howl out of Bass Creek Canyon. He shows me one of the mangers on the main floor that contains empty whiskey and brandy bottles stashed there by his grandfather, looking like large eggs in a hen’s nest.

I was unable to do my usual historic ownership records research because the Ravalli County Recorder’s Office records room was off-limits to the public. Both Tom and Cliff have an old hand-tinted panoramic photo of the Feronato Stock Farm that shows four of the girls posing by a 1940s vintage car, the barn (then painted white) on the Trexler homestead, their father Mario on a horse, and a herd of Hereford cattle. The Feronatos and the Ruffattos added land to their ranches whenever they could, and the Ruffatto Land and Cattle Company is a big operation by Bitter Root standards. It keeps Tom, Cliff, and their family busy working on it year around, maintaining its agricultural heritage.

The west end of the Ruffato barn.

An old box of fire extinguisher globes.

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