About
the Ranch
The Milton Ranch is a 15,000 acre ranch located northeast of Roundup, MT on the beautiful rolling Northern Plains. Our current operation supports 500 mother cows which we manage intensively, using electric fence for daily moves. We began studying the principles of Holistic Management in the early 70’s and are still employing ideas of herd effect, high intensity grazing and long recovery periods. Off the range, Bill spends much time facilitating meetings with various working groups to chip away at the Miltons’ vision of a sustainable ranching community in Montana. Check out our website here.
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Regenerative Practices
We believe in large-scale conservation— the Northern Plains is one of the last remaining grassland ecosystems in the world, and we believe that with the collaboration of neighbors, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other like-minded ranchers, we can leverage our individual power to create real change on this landscape.
This vision takes a lot of work. We spend a lot of time planning our daily grazing moves, setting up and taking down electric fences with our motorized fence spool, and using low-stress stockmanship to check cattle.
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the Ranch
The Mentor
Bill Milton
Bill was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. During his childhood, his father bought a ranch in Montana where Bill spent summers and holidays. Bill attended Montana State University and transferred to UC Berkeley where he majored in Conservation of Natural Resources. He met Dana during this time and they married in 1974. Following their marriage they moved permanently to Montana and with the help of his brother Max, bought their first ranch in 1978. THey have been ranching ever since. On their ranch they raised 3 children. Their eldest, Moria Perez, is a Paramedic/ Fire fighter in Manchester, CT. Their son Cameron is the head golf pro at the Polson Bay Golf Course in Polson, MT, and their youngest son, Morgan, is a chef and restaurant owner in Livingston, MT. Bill is a practicing Buddhist priest and can instruct an apprentice in zen meditation if they wish. Bill loves to cook healthy, delicious dinner and his favorite food is Dana’s homemade bread.
Dana Folsom Milton
Dana was born and raised in Berkeley, California. She comes from generations of artists, poets, writers and naturalists. Dana is a skilled carpenter, gardener, athlete, financial planner, craftswoman and bread maker. She will help the apprentice understand the financial side of ranching, breaking down budgets and going over monthly controls. She manages a very large garden and is always working on building projects, both of which an apprentices acan help with. She can help an apprentice get to know the Roundup community, as she is quite involved with local Roundup events, and has close relationships with neighbors. Dana is a lover of all animals and has a soft spot for birds.
The Duties Of
The Apprentice
What will an apprentice do?
- Animal Management — Apprentices gain hands-on experience in calving and caring for both heifers and the cow herd. Tasks include nightly checks, assisting with difficult births, ear tagging, and banding. They also learn basic herd health and doctoring practices, assess nutritional needs, and participate in genetic selection to understand the traits that build a strong herd.
- Stockmanship — Low-stress stockmanship is emphasized throughout the season, with practice opportunities both on the range and in corrals.
- Land Management — Apprentices learn land and grazing management by setting up and taking down electric fences for daily moves, planning grazing rotations, and using tools like Animal Days per Acre calculations and pre/post-graze assessments. They maintain records in the MAIA app and, since 40% of the ranch is public land, collaborate with BLM agents. Training also includes plant identification, and monitoring of birds, plants, and soil to build ecological literacy.
- Business & Finances — Apprentices join Country Natural Beef’s bi-weekly calls, learn budgeting, and practice recordkeeping in Quicken while applying Ranching for Profit principles.
- Community Engagement — Apprentices participate in agricultural and environmental NGO meetings, workshops, and events that support professional growth and connection.
What skills and traits are required?
- A valid drivers license
What skills will an apprentice acquire?
Nuts & Bolts
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Living on the Ranch
Town Information
The Milton Ranch is located 17 miles down a dirt road northeast of Roundup, Montana. Roundup is a small town of about 3,000 people—though during its coal mining heyday, the population reached nearly 10,000. It’s often said that Roundup has about as many churches as bars (though these days, the churches might be winning).
The town offers a library, tennis courts, a swimming pool, and an active shooting club. The Milton Ranch apprentice will also have opportunities to connect with other NAP apprentices and two Big Sky Watershed Corps interns in the area.
That said, our experience is that Roundup doesn’t have a lot to offer socially for the 20–30-year-old age group, so apprentices should come prepared to enjoy a quieter, rural lifestyle.
Billings, Montana is 1-½ hours away from the ranch and has just about everything you would expect from the largest city in Montana. Billings boasts an international airport (flights to Canada), restaurants, music, movies, a museum, and two colleges and is a medical hub for Montana and the surrounding states. There are two National Parks (Yellowstone and Glacier) within an eight-hour drive. There are several large mountain ranges within a three-hour drive for outdoor activities including hiking, fishing, downhill and cross-country skiing.
Housing
We renovated an old cake shed in 2020 for our apprentice. The cabin has running water, electricity, shower, toilet, heater and a stove! It is cozy and a good sized “tiny home.” We think it’s pretty cute.
Laundry
There are laundry facilities in the main house or the guesthouse – a schedule can be arranged.
Internet Service
Internet access is available in the apprentice’s cabin.
Cell Service
Cell service is spotty all over the ranch, with AT&T having the best coverage.
Visitors
We have no problem with short-term visitors as long as scheduled or required work is addressed. We would like to know in advance numbers and dates. Long-term visitors would have be a topic for the team to discuss.
Food
We grow a large garden and slaughter our own meat. Our apprentice would have access to this production. We provide a food stipend but the apprentice will have access to ranch meat and will often eat with us if desired. Roundup has two grocery stores but little access to organic vegetables.
Pets
Working dogs and horses negotiable
Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol
Ranch housing and enclosed work spaces are all smoke free. Legal and appropriate alcohol use is ok outside of work hours. Smoking is not allowed in buildings, and very regulated on the ranch. No one currently smokes on the ranch.
Firearms
Firearms are allowed while practicing appropriate safety protocol.
Vehicle Info
Ranch Vehicles
Some of the ranch vehicles have standard transmissions. Apprentices will need to know how to drive stick-shift. Previous experience with backing up trailers is not required but extremely helpful. Should the need arise for an apprentice to use a ranch vehicle for personal needs, this can be discussed in advance with the mentors.
Personal Vehicles
While apprentices will not be asked to use a personal vehicle for work purposes, the apprentice will need the flexibility of his or her own vehicle on their days off in order to run personal errands such as purchasing groceries and for travel.
Work Hours / Time Off
Working Hours
We start the workday mostly at 8:00 am during the all months except during calving or addressing unusual concerns.. We tend to work longer days during the spring and early summer as that is our busiest time of year. While we always get a full day’s work in, we take breaks as needed during the day.Time Off
We will schedule a regular day off every week (not uncommon to get two days if the key ranch work is getting completed with flexibility for everyone including the apprentice.The apprentice also has 2 weeks paid vacation.
Health Insurance
Explore
Apprentice Stories
Check out past apprentices and what they have to say about their experience.
- 2024 Apprentices, 2025 Apprentices, New Agrarian Blog, Triangle P, Veebaray Ranch