Granite County

Granite County is a rural natural-resource supported county in central Western Montana. Winter and summer recreation draw visitors to the scenic beauty year-round, while agriculture is the economic base. Georgetown Lake provides a variety of recreational experiences, and is next door to the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness. The population of the county is about 3,000, and the County Seat of Philipsburg has a population of around 900. The other incorporated town in Granite County is Drummond, with a population of around 300. Montana State University Extension in Granite County is supported by three strong and important partners. County, state and federal funding sources work together to assure that MSU Extension in Granite County has the resources to provide timely and relevant education addressing locally-identified issues. Montana counties provide about 40 percent of the funding to support local offices, state funding provides about 40 percent, and federal partners about 20 percent. Like many Western Montana communities, the Granite County area has a rich mining past, but agriculture has provided the base of economic activity through the boom and bust cycles associated with historic mining. Granite County . . . Montana at its best!

4-H in Granite County

The Granite County 4-H program is comprised of 77 members and 15 leaders participating in various projects. The 4-H program in Granite County combines efforts to share the unique hands-on learning experience that is 4-H. Members in the Granite County 4-H program have the opportunity to share in hands-on learning at several different county events: Project Possibilities, Foods Fair, Stir-Ups, Quality Assurance, Countywide Communications, IPYA Presentations, and the Skill-A-Thon. Some members attended statewide 4-H events such as Rec Lab and 4-H Congress. By going to these events, youth were able to go to workshops to learn new skills, compete in livestock judging and experience 4-H in a new way. They built lasting connections by attending these events and shared their experience with other 4-H members in Granite County and encouraged them to try new things. Granite County will continue to identify educational needs of the youth in the program while also providing access to educators and leaders to help them reach their goals.

Caption: Granite County 4-H members picking up trash as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program.

Credit: Dee Dunkerson

Food Preservation

In recent years there has been more interest from community members in growing and preserving their own food. In the last two falls, Dr. Brianna Routh, the Montana State University Extension Food and Family Specialist, taught food preservations classes to Granite County constituents. During the three-hour course, the 10 participants were given eleven relevant MontGuides, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Complete Guide to Home Canning and had the option to purchase a copy of So Easy to Preserve from The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Participants learned about using safe recipes for preserving food to avoid spoilage or food born illness. To reinforce what they learned, participants put the skills into practice and canned salsa and apples during the two workshops.

Caption: Canned salsa from Food Preservation workshops

Credit: Kaci Perkins

29th Herdsmanship School for Area Ranchers

Cattle ranching is a primary driver of Granite County’s economy as the county is primarily a rural community with many people utilizing the natural resources here. Ranch inputs for many operations remain fairly constant year to year, but market volatility can lead to slim profit margins for ranchers. It is important for ranches to minimize losses and implement proper management strategy in their cattle herds. To meet some of these challenges, in January of 2024, Granite County MSU hosted the 29th annual Herdsmanship School. Over a period of 3 weeks in January, area ranchers took part in seminars over a wide range of topics, including grazing and feeding strategies to meet nutritional needs of livestock and using cheap forage sources, marketing cattle and minimizing risk to make financial decisions, and knowing how to manage insect pests in forages to have healthy hay crops.

Caption: Cattle on a cold day in Granite County

Credit: Ben Hauptman

Contact

220 N. Sansome
Philipsburg, MT
406-859-3304
https://www.montana.edu/extension/granite/