Farm & Ranch

A bat house provides crevices for the bats to rest and roost. As dusk settles on a warm summer evening and bats take to the sky for their nightly meals, my family loves to sit on the porch to see how many we can spot. Dipping and dodging, we can’t glimpse the insects in their sites, but we know they fill an important niche in the ecosystem, keeping insect populations in check. Bats are renowned for their insect eating proclivities and that is not lost on Dan Bachen, senior zoologist at the Montana Natural History Program. “Primarily up here they eat insects, which is why they are absolutely important,” Bachen said. In terms of agriculture, bats save farmers billions of dollars in pest control. In addition, many bat species hold imperative roles in pollination. For those reasons, and others, it’s not a pretty pi... Read more

Black Diamond 25-Ton Log Splitter Review and Product Demonstration Read more

This Black Diamond 37-ton Log Splitter is for larger operations who may need a little more power than the Black Diamond 25-ton Log Splitter. If you are a logger, if the majority of your wood is "green" or hardwood, or if you are clearing large areas, then the Black Diamond 37-ton will give you the power and cycle times you need to be sure to get the job done. There are two 37-ton models from Black Diamond Log Splitters. The one below is able to transition from vertical to horizontal. If you are happy with the horizontal splitting and want to save yourself $100, you can opt for the 37-ton model that only splits in the horizontal position here. Black Diamond 37-Ton Log Splitter Engine Specifications Manual Start Engine:  Briggs & Stratton 306CC / 9.5HP Specifications: Ram Force: 37 Ton Cycle Time: 13 Sec We... Read more

What is a corn cob light? Well, as you can see from the video above, a COB LED is a light shaped surprisingly like an ear of corn. What is it? COB stands for “chip on board” and is simply that: a light emitting diode (LED) embedded into a substrate (board) that has an electric current passed through it so it will light up. That means the acronym COB matches the actual shape of the light itself. The COB LED light we are talking about in this article, and the one you see above, is the GT-Lite High Lumen LED Bulb we stock at North 40 Outfitters. If this is the first time you’ve seen a bulb like this, then you probably have a few questions. Is this light as bright as traditional halogen or CFL lights? Absolutely it is. Does this COB LED use less energy or more energy? Less… up to 80 percent less actually. Does the corn cob light get ... Read more

We scoured the Mid-States show today in search of the best new farm and ranch products coming to the market.  The Mid-States trade show is the largest show in the United States for Farm and Ranch retailers and is hosted twice a year in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Currently only 41 businesses in Canada and the United States are invited to participate, and North 40 Outfitters is proud to be one of those 41 companies. While many of these products won’t be seeing store shelves until 2018 we wanted to be sure to give you a preview so that the North 40 Life community had the chance to see it first. Country Companion Senior The latest edition to the Country Companion line of feeds will be an updated senior horse feed to help put healthy weight on your older horses.  This feed is a pelleted feed with added oils to make the pellets softer for o... Read more

The Cardinal Rule of chicken farming? Don't get more chickens than you can care for! If you buy too many chickens for the amount of time/money/energy/space you have, chances are they are not going to flourish- and could actually get sick, or in some drastic cases, the outcome may be even worse. For example, imagine you don't have the correct watering system, or your waterer is too small for your flock -- or, you live in the Northwest where summers are hot and chickens need water. No matter the manner, without water, chickens, like people, cannot survive. Going too Big, Too Fast Chickens can also get sick if you go too big, too fast. And when that happens, it happens slowly and you might not catch it at first- Imagine your life as a chicken. If there is not enough space for the pursuit of life, liberty and the decent meal worm, you will s... Read more

PHASE I: The Brooder and your New Baby Chicks Young chicks must have a brooder for warmth and protection. Prepare the brooder by cleaning and disinfecting it before the chicks arrive. Once it has dried, cover the floor with 4 to 6 inches of dry litter material. Here's some ideas on raising chicks in this stage without electricity.  Pinewood shavings or sawdust is recommended to aid in disease prevention. Place the brooder in a draft-free location. Carefully position an incandescent bulb about a foot above the box floor to provide heat and add a second light in case one bulb burns out. Newly hatched chicks will find their perfect temperature in the brooder. If it's too hot under the bulb chicks will move away from the heat; if too cool they'll move closer. Give chicks space to move about. Baby chicks huddle together when they'r... Read more

By Tracie Moats One of the most popular craft projects on the Internet right now is string art. And, to be honest, I can easily see why. It's modern, simple and, most importantly, affordable. What's not to love? So, I decided to take a shot at it myself, adding a little bit of North 40 flair into the mix. Materials Needed for DIY Nail & String Art Design String Wire Nails (this project took 2 packs) Hammer Wood Board (I used old barn wood) Paper Template (download mine here) Tape Scissors Need some of these supplies? Check out our craft supplies here Step One: Securely tape your template to your wood board. Begin pounding nails around your template. I have about a .25" space between my nails, but that is totally up to you. You can use more or less spacing depending on the complexity of your template. Try pounding all your nails t... Read more

When seeking to purchase an electrical fence for your farm or ranch, consider Shakespeare: You must needs, sirs and madams, understand your electrical fencing "audience and purpose." But seriously, all 16th Century lit. references aside knowing what you plan to do with your electrical fence is the first part in deciding what you ultimately need. North 40's first recommendation on learning about fencing set ups? Watch the video below and see Matt get electrocuted... and also get an instructional lesson from Gallagher's own electric fencing expert.   Is your fence permanent or temporary? First things first, this is the realest question to ask for a few reasons. Why? Permanent fences and temporary fences use way different materials. If it's a permanent fence you're after, then you're going to opt for an installation that utilizes wire... Read more

What Changed when Running Zoetis & Dectomax? Despite his initial hesitancy to invest more in the initial cost of Zoetis products over generics, Vic finally did volunteer to try something new and give Zoetis a chance. We joined him on his ranch in Montana out by the Smith river for our first administration during branding. Be sure to read the start of this experiment and learn what Vic already had to change when switching to Zoetis. Vic started the day off by running Dectomax Pour-on on all his cattle. Dectomax controls 33 stages of internal and external parasites with a single, convenient application... at least that's what the label said. Vic was surprised to hear this claim, and it is something we are really looking forward to watching and reporting back on come fall. Our Dectomax is available for online order and delivery her... Read more

Princess Twilight Sparkle: Culling Cattle Names in a 4-H Family Every spring, the kids pick out their favorite calf to show at the local fair. We have tried picking out the calf for them because, well, you want your farm to be well represented, but that didn't work. The kids have their favorites and that is who they want to take. There is no changing their minds. We do however have some influence on the names. We have saved some calves from some very interesting names like "Princess Twilight Sparkle" named after a My Little Pony character. Like with all young things, cattle need to be protected against diseases. Check out our cattle health section online here. Three 4-H Kids, Three Cattle Shows and "Tiny" the Calf Our daughter took her first fair calf Rose to the fair three years ago. The following year, her brother joined her by bringin... Read more

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