Internship on the Ranch

This past summer I had the incredible opportunity to return to Otter, Montana as a ranch intern. During my time in rural southeastern Montana, I was able to build on the skills I fostered last summer as a ranch intern, strengthen my bonds within the community, and further embrace the Western way of life. As a ranch intern, I was immersed in numerous aspects of cattle production, including herding cattle on horseback, packing minerals to livestock, moving/building electric and permanent fence line, and direct-marketing beef products at several local farmers market.

During my time in high school I was actively involved in FFA and 4-H. I enjoyed showing livestock and learning more about animal husbandry. As I grew older, I developed an interest in production agriculture and attended my county’s vocational high school as a member of their animal science program. Through this program, I developed an interest in production agriculture, and I knew I wanted to learn more about the care and management of cattle. Last year, ranching was a completely new production system for me, and I knew I wanted to come back to develop a deeper understand of the ranching system and rangeland management.

My time at Penn State helped me understand many of the biological principles and animal husbandry practices that I saw on the ranch. I have taken several classes which focus on sustainable agriculture techniques, many of which emphasizes the importance of rotational grazing, which is when animals are stocked on a plot of land for a short amount of time and then moved. This method allows the grass to recover instead of being continually grazed. The ranch that I worked on this summer is known for its intensive mob grazing techniques, which is when a high density of cattle is grazed on a small area of land. The goal of this system is to simulate the impact that a bison herd would have had on the rangeland. Prairie grasses coevolved with the bison herds, and therefore flourish when these conditions are replicated.

My time on the ranch helped me understand and contextualize the benefits of regenerative agricultural practices. With a growing national population and an increasing international demand for American beef, it is important to utilize our natural resources in a way that compliments the ecology of the prairie and preserves our resources for the next generation of American agriculturalists. I enjoyed learning more about the western way of life, visiting the neighboring ranches and assisting them with their seasonal brandings, and gaining an in-depth, holistic perspective on contemporary regenerative ranching practices. I’ve had the opportunity to make lifelong friends and forge incredible memories, and in the future I hope to find a job working within the cattle industry.