dairy farm in MT??? please look . . . (Billings, Bozeman: living, prices, moving to)

[carolinacowgirl01]

Hi,
I am dying to move back out west (MT, WY, ID, CO) and I would love to be able to work either on a private ranch or a guest ranch. The problem is that my boyfriend trims dairy cows (10 years experience) and would like to continue to do that, but we've only been able to find a few dairies in Montana (4 or 5 near Bozeman). Can anyone help with that?
Our other option would be some type of caretaker positions for a couple . . .
He doesn't want to move until he has some kind of work lined up . . .

Any suggestions/contact info would be GREAT!

[hgeorge83]

Hey there Carolina Cowgirl!

I am in the same position. I live in New York and my boyfriend and I are moving to Montana in March. He's a hoof trimmer here for dairy cows and has been doing it for 10 years. The plan was to live and work out on a guest ranch in Judith Gap, MT. He was going to work the farm and eventaully become a hunting guide. The ranch plan has fell through with the investor. We are now looking for dairy farms in MT so that he can hoof trim out there. If you find out info or contacts....let us know. We want to be out there soon....but of course we need jobs and a living situation lined up. Let me know how your doing and if you find out anything.

Thanks
Hilary George --a NY cowgirl
email: hgeorgepmed@yahoo.com
cell: 315-723-1987

Feel free to call me...!

[Luey]

Hi! I thought I should reply to this...my dad is the hoof trimmer in Montana and because there are not a lot of dairies in the area, I think you would probably be hard pressed to find work. I was talking to him about it, though, and he said that Idaho is the #3 state in the nation for number of dairy cows...apparently a combination of good irrigation/plentiful feed and lack of space in California is drawing CA dairymen there. He also mentioned Eastern New Mexico (along the Texas border) as a place where there are a number of large dairies. I hope that helps....

[rickers]

Talk to Darigold Inc. and Meadow Gold, They both have several dairy farms in Montana.

[organick]

i think you may be hard pressed to break into something like that in montana, rancher and farmers there are pretty tight knit and the economy is tough, they are probably helping their own.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by rickers

Talk to Darigold Inc. and Meadow Gold, They both have several dairy farms in Montana.

I thought I'd read they moved most of them out of state. I know they closed the Kalispell operation.

[hgeorge83]

Luey

Is your father's name Ron Cummerfeldt? Which part of the state does he trim in? I'll look into jobs in Idaho. Thanks for your help.

Hilary

[hgeorge83]

rickers... i am looking into Darigold and Meadow Gold. Thanks for your help

Hilary

[Luey]

Originally Posted by hgeorge83

Luey

Is your father's name Ron Cummerfeldt? Which part of the state does he trim in? I'll look into jobs in Idaho. Thanks for your help.

Hilary

His name is Tom Knapp....Tom Knapp Hoof Trimming. He trims all over the state...in the north near Canada, Bozeman, Billings, some of the central and eastern areas, and northern Wyoming. If there's anything I can do to help... I don't know much about it, but I can always ask him

[rangerider]

I have several neighbors and friends that run dairies, and times are fair but not the best right now. They mostly hire kids from the local area and a few have full time employees.

The dairy business is a tough one anymore; there are mostly smaller producers here and when milk prices go down they hang on by the skin of their teeth.