Yellowstone: What's real, what's not straight from the horse's mouth

The show is just as much a juggernaut in the States. It's being called America's biggest television hit and, now in its fifth season, has millions of viewers worldwide.

For real-life cattle ranchers in the Midwest, Yellowstone's popularity is something of an enigma.

Is it the way of life of those on the land, the mountain of challenges faced by Kevin Costner's John Dutton or the sheer stunning backdrop that has drawn people in?

Either way, the American beef producer seems to love the neo-Western drama just as much as Joe Public and says that despite its numerous inconsistencies with reality, it has done the ranching game a fair bit of good.

Farmonline was in the US in the days leading up to this week's release of the first episode of season five of Yellowstone - it premiered here on Stan the same day it was released in the US - and put some key 'fact-or-fiction' questions to ranchers.

Firstly, their cowboys are absolutely not branded. No one has ever heard of anything remotely like that and all expect they'd end up in jail if they turned a blind eye, much less promoted, the practice.

And they are adamant their ranch hands, or cowboys, are not the violent, fighting characters that Yellowstone's are.

Cowboys are typically quiet, gentle people and they work far too hard to have the energy to fight or murder, ranchers said.

And they are not so filthy mouthed.

"I have a friend who has a big ranch in Montana right near where the fictional Yellowstone would be and the first thing people ask him is 'do your employees talk like that?" says Lamar Steiger, The 808 Ranch in California.

"The answer is absolutely not, we would never allow that.

"That is entirely Hollywood."

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The issues being played out, however, are true representations of the battles faced by US ranchers, Mr Steiger said.

"There really is, in the west, a culture of mining, agriculture, native Americans and tourism all clashing," he said.

"There is a concept of 'are the lands the ranchers or do they belong to the public'. That question, those issues, are very real."

There are simple solutions to John Dutton's problems that Hollywood conveniently ignores, Mr Steiger laughs.

"He could put that land in a conservation easement trust and still maintain it and live on it, or there are all kinds of different things that would protect from development coming in and trying to take his ranch," he said.

"Two of his kids are lawyers in the show, so he should be informed of those options.

"Some things we roll our eyes about but we are glad we are getting exposure to the issues we have."

In particular, it had created, in general society, some much-need questioning of vegan ideology, ranchers felt.

"Animal activists are doing some crazy protesting here and I understand it's much the same in Australia," Mr Steiger said.

"That one line from the show is gold."

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It seems the Yellowstone scenery is no manipulation of pictures either.

Steve Wooten is a fifth generation rancher and while he is from south eastern Colorado rather than Montana, he says ranchers 'get to work in some incredible views'.

The use of horses in the show is not exaggerated either.

Mr Wooten runs a Red Angus based cow calf operation and only works his cattle on horseback.

"We are constantly going up down between plateaus and down into canyons. It's not suitable for motorcycles or ATVs. Plus we love raising and riding horses so it's a good fit," he said.

"I also think as our cattle leave the ranch, if they've been accustomed to horses and people being on foot around them, whether it's a stocker operation or if they are going straight into a feedlot, they are already well adapted to being moved this way.

"That makes a difference. There is no training period. If the feedlots have to pull an animal out of a pen to treat it, it's a relatively stress-less process."

On other key Yellowstone questions, here's what the ranchers said.

The Livestock Authority is nowhere near as powerful as it is portrayed.

The A-frame wooden fences are very common. They have been, for many years, an effective and relatively cheap method of containing cattle.

Many operations rope calves at branding. A lot of ranches don't have corrals or a race.

"Of course in Yellowstone, the Duttons have every facility available and would have no need to rope calves but it makes for good pictures I suppose," said Mr Steiger.

Lizards are indeed a problem in many ranching regions, but as to whether sasquatches exist, the reply was 'do yowies really exist in Australia?"

It depends on who you ask.