If you want to really understand your pasture conditions right now, don’t just look at the grass, watch the weeds, too. In May, everything becomes more obvious across West Texas and the Southern Plains. You can see what grew well with early moisture, what got grazed too much, and what’s been slowly going downhill. This is one of your best chances to check pasture health before summer stress hits.A common mistake is to go straight for weed control and think spraying is the answer. But weeds aren’t just a problem to remove; they’re feedback. They show where grazing has been too heavy, where good forage isn’t keeping up, and where your management might be off balance. Often, what you see now started months earlier.
If you ignore these signs, you’ll keep spraying the same weeds every year without fixing the real issue. But if you pay attention to what your pasture is telling you, you can make changes that actually boost forage and cattle performance. This is the time of year when being alert puts you ahead, and waiting too long sets you back.
