LAUNCHING BRANDED BEEF FROM THE RANCH

Direct marketing secures Montana family's future and provides high-quality beef to customers.

Josh and Maggie Johnson got a slim start in the cattle business. They began ranching on their family's outfit near Westby, Montana, in 2001, with just 10 heifers that were a gift from Josh's grandfather. "Besides the money we made driving sugar beet trucks in the fall, the income from those 10 heifers was all we had to live on," Josh says.

But their slim pickings made them savvy managers. And dreamers.

The beef herd today on JLM Ranch numbers 400 cows, and their vision is to one day market all the offspring from the herd through their own company, Montana Branded Inc. With plans to process and market 20 head a month in the near future, they're not far from reaching their mark. A blueprint for their own processing facility is in the works. (See "The Rancher's Rail.") The couple launched Montana Branded in 2018 after having success selling quarters, halves, and whole carcasses to a handful of local customers. They finished the cattle in their own on-farm feedlot.

"It was a good way to market open heifers and those odd cattle that don't sell well at the auction barn, just because they might have lost their tail or frozen their ears," Josh says.

Adds Maggie, "Those beef sales went over so well, we decided to try to market more cattle through direct sales, giving local people the chance to buy beef from us by the package or in small quantities."

The Johnsons also continue to market weaned calves and some backgrounded yearlings through the auction barn. "But we have found greater profitability in selling animals as packaged beef directly to consumers," Josh says. "Our ultimate goal is to process and direct market all the cattle that we produce here on the ranch."