Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks has received tentative approval to enroll 10 eastern Montana properties in a newly launched state program to conserve prairie habitat. The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to authorize the Prairie Habitat Conservation Lease Program’s first batch of agreements and signaled its support for the program’s larger objective of putting 500,000 acres of eastern Montana prairie into 40-year conservation lease agreements.

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Commentary by Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA There’s a fierce conflict within the U.S. cattle industry right now. One side says we need to reverse the industry’s present course of consolidation, vertical integration (where the beef packer controls the production of cattle), and centralization. We’re on this side and we believe our industry will continue to shrink in terms of the number of cattle producers, number of cattle, and number of small to mid-sized feedlots if our industry’s present course is not quickly reversed.

The annual Avera Fun Run was held on the morning of the 4th of July with 116 runner/walkers participants. Winners of the Avera Fun Run are as follows: Runners Girls 5K 10U: 1st place, Oaklynn Baker, 40:05; 2nd place, Taylynne Hay, 40:45.

Friends and relatives gathered at the Bonnie Johnson and Dave Dobesh homes in Gregory, SD, for the 4th of July parade and picnic. Attending was the weekend guest Terri Frank of Beresford, SD, as well as Joyce Heath of Winner, SD; and also Kevin and Lorie Wagner of Winner, SD, and their guests, sons Travis and Tyler and kids; Janet Kahler of Rapid City, SD; Heath “Doc” Hitchcock, Lincoln and Emerson, of Newport, NE, and Brent Roggow and family from Mills, NE, were also guests to watch the parade. The Ekroth family were annual parade-watchers also.