April showers bring May flowers, right? These flowers that are beginning to appear in May just may be attached to a plant (noxious weed) that can actually cause harm to our livestock.

Noxious plants are a part of life in the mountain West and commonly occur in our high-elevation pastures. Properly identifying plants is crucial to understanding their life cycle, including periods of toxicity to livestock, and when it is safer to put cows onto the pasture.