Fifteen students, many mentors, and one unforgettable week of hands-on ranching bring agriculture’s next generation a little closer to home.
MALTA, MT: The Ranchers Stewardship Alliance (RSA) is proud to share that this summer marked the second year of the Montana Ranch Boot Camp, hosted right here in Malta, and it did not disappoint.
Fifteen students came together to learn, laugh, and get their hands dirty doing the kind of ranching that can’t be taught in a classroom. Their backgrounds ranged from well-traveled ag professionals to first-timers who had never worked livestock, and every one of them left with more than they came with.
“Whether you have spent your whole life around ranching or are just beginning to explore land stewardship, livestock, and rural resilience, we are glad you are here,” said RSA Executive Director Angel DeVries in her welcome to this year’s class. “This week is about more than learning new skills. It is about caring for land, animals, and the communities that depend on them.”
This Boot Camp doesn’t run like a typical training program, and it isn’t meant to. From fixing fence to working cattle, from learning mechanics to sharing a meal at the end of a long day, these are skills and values that get passed down, hand to hand, generation to generation. Over five days, students visited working ranches, learned basic equipment maintenance, tried their hand at a branding, and picked up tips from more than a dozen ranchers, specialists, and instructors who showed up to share what they know.
The week kicked off with a welcome dinner at the Tin Cup, and from there, it was full speed ahead: rural community etiquette, mapping tools, shop basics, trailering, four-wheeler training, and rural first aid. Midweek brought a look at virtual fencing technology and hands-on lessons in fencing and stock water. By the back half of the week, students were talking stockmanship, recordkeeping, and cattle genetics, and walking pasture to study plants and soil health. Fittingly, the week wrapped up at a branding, learning both rope-and-drag and table techniques.
“You can teach ranching skills in a classroom, but you can’t replace the experience of doing the work alongside someone who has spent a lifetime doing it. That hands-on learning and the relationships built along the way,” said Mary Oxarart.
This year also brought something new: RSA’s first Collars and Coffee event, where students joined local ranchers to talk virtual fencing and what it could mean for the future of grazing here. Evenings were just as full, with dinners at the Malta Event Center and dinner in the Stockman dining room.
Feedback forms on students’ biggest takeaways say it all.
“Rural community support and how much passion there is surrounding the future changes and challenges in agriculture. Seeing so many passionate people inspired me even more and solidified that this is a path I want to go down and contribute to.”
“The table branding was the best event, learning how to castrate and getting to brand.”
“My biggest takeaway was the way in which ranching communities work alongside one another. Although seemingly a straightforward endeavor, each year introduces new factors that affect the cattle industry. By having an understanding with those in the community, not just your immediate neighbors, producers are better equipped to tackle any hardships.”
None of this happens without ranchers willing to open their gates and hand over a piece of what they know. RSA extends a heartfelt thank you to every one of them, a reminder that agriculture’s future is in good hands. Thank you to opening speaker Lane Nordlund, and to the instructors who gave their time throughout the week: Leo Barthelmess, Allan DeVries, Aaron DeVries, Maida Knapton, Kelsey Molloy, Vicki Olson, Cody Oxarart, Carli Simanton, Orvin Solberg, Martin Townsend, and Jeret Warren. Thanks also to the Philips County Commissioners and Aaron Griffith of the Bowdoin Wildlife Refuge for their help with location changes due to weather, and to all the extra hands at the Oxarart and DeVries brandings.
The Montana Ranch Boot Camp is a project of RSA and Winnett ACES, in partnership with the MSU Dan Scott Ranch Management Program and the Montana Rangeland Resources Program. This year’s camp was made possible by the generous support of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Stockgrowers Foundation, WWF Sustainable Ranching Initiative, Montana Grazing Lands Coalition, AgWest Farm Credit, and Valley County Conservation District.
