New technology called “virtual fencing” is catching on in Idaho and the West.

After the H5N1 avian flu virus jumped from birds to dairy cattle in Texas last December, it was spread across the country by infected cows, contaminated machinery, and people who inadvertently carried the virus on their clothes and footwear from farm to farm, said USDA scientists on Thursday.

The larger breeds don’t necessarily fight wolves, but they do help alert ranchers to predators lurking nearby

...the application period is now open for the program, called the WSDA Local Meat Processing Capacity Grants. The deadline to apply for a small project grant, with funding available up to $150,000, is Feb. 28, while the deadline for large project grants, eligible for funding between $150,000 to $750,000, is March 7.

About a dozen people recently helped Gittleson trudge through the deep snow to put up 3 miles of fladry around a pasture near his ranch house.

From Oregon to the Dakotas, hay stocks for hungry cattle are low and ranchers say summer pastures are already dry from the widespread drought. It leaves them little choice but to cut herds now. “People are just scared that we’re not going to have any fall green up [rains that grow grass] either — so it’s not looking good,” Clark says.