Montana rancher, who lost half of livestock, humbled by ag community support

On June 6, Ryegate area rancher and farmer Jay Streeter lost about half of his livestock when a late spring hailstorm herded 100 calves, 80 cows, and 30 yearlings off a cliff of rimrock. "It was a pretty devastating day," admits Streeter. "You re-evaluate a lot of things when something like that happens to you." Word traveled quickly to nearby ranchers and farmers and it didn't take long before the Wheatland County Stockgrowers organized a fundraiser for the Streeter family. "Anybody that's been in agriculture has lost some stock and that's tough," explains Ryegate rancher, Gordon Bruner. "But when you lose as much as Jay lost, that just stirs something in you to do something." The urge to help didn't stop in Montana. The news spread like wildfire beyond the Treasure State's borders and soon the Streeters were receiving hundreds of phone calls, letters, and donations. "From Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, I mean, just everywhere," says Streeter. As a result of the "Spare a Pair" fundraising event, spearheaded by Bruner and Rob Tierney, 32 cow/calf pairs and three yearlings have been donated to the Streeters so far...more