It was a phone call that I didn’t want to receive. On a pleasant evening in June, a neighbor rancher – someone I’ve known for many years – phoned to ask my advice about some baleage.

We’ll focus on the selenium accumulator plants that thrive in arid regions – the toxic plants that distressed Marco Polo, the toxic plants notorious in cowboy movies for causing “blind staggers” and “alkali disease.”

PFAS are a family of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment. They’ve been in use since the 1940s and are designed to repel or displace water.

Tall fescue is a hearty deep-rooted perennial that grows widely across 15 states in the southeastern U.S. and covers more than 35 million acres.

Undesirable genetic traits causing fetal abnormalities have occurred throughout the evolution of livestock selection. There are more than 20 genetic traits cattle breeders monitor in the A.I. industry.

Many years ago, in a college course on toxic plants, I learned about the popular ornamental houseplant dieffenbachia, also known as “dumb cane.”

Bodyweight alone may be the defining reason mature cows are not affected by toxins that can cause abortion in younger animals. Or perhaps it’s just, well, cow sense.

Vetch is not vetch is not vetch. Poison ivy is not an ivy, and poison oak is not an oak. Yes, names for common plants can be delightfully whimsical and inconsistent, but there’s nothing delightful about the toxins in these plants.