B-Bar Land and Livestock

Located just east of the Crazy Mountains in Montana’s Sweet Grass County, B-Bar Land and Livestock is dedicated to the preservation of rare breeds through careful and skillful agricultural management. Purchased by Maryanne Mott in 1981, considerable research was conducted in the late ‘80’s to determine the best management direction to both accomplish ranch objectives and reflect the beliefs and values of the owners. The result was an adoption of organic management practices in 1990 with their first organic certification attained in 1993.

 

 

The B Bar also raises excellent grassfed black Angus beef. “We strive to provide a low stress environment,” says ranch manager, Wes Henthorne, who has managed the ranch since 1983. “The ranch crew has been trained in low stress stockmanship, and we’re diligent about practicing it every day.”

 

 

 

 

The B Bar’s open topography sports rolling hills and few trees, but boasts 1000+ irrigated acres with water supplied by off-stream reservoirs from Sweet Grass Creek. Livestock are fed entirely by ranch production, on pastures and with hay produced on the ranch. “We operate in a closed soil fertility loop and neither buy nor sell hay,” Wes reports. “No synthetic fertilizer has been applied since 1989 when herbicide use was discontinued.”

 

 

 

When asked about the B Bar’s operating philosophy, Wes replied, “Many of the current chemically based solutions to agricultural problems may be creating future problems that are far greater than those we are trying to address through their use, so we don’t use them. We believe that preserving the broadest possible range of genetic material in our domestic animals and plants will provide the best insurance for future generations to have sufficient tools to adapt agriculture to new realities that are beyond our imagination.”