Happy Thanksgiving Eve 2025! Tomorrow we eat too much, watch football, and thank the good Lord for another year on rangelands. But before we all disappear into food comas and family chaos, I want to hit you with one quick heads-up that can save you a pile of money and heartache this winter and next spring. A new publication was recently released by Dr. Thomas Hairgrove, Dr. Barron Rector, Dr. Jake Thorne, and Dale Rankin. Click here for the publication!
Photosensitization is sneaking up on herds right now.
Those pretty cool mornings and bright sunny afternoons we’re having? Perfect recipe for trouble if you’ve got lechuguilla, sacahuista, lantana, kochia, kleingrass, goathead, or rain lilies hanging around. Even alfalfa hay or heavy green wheat pasture can set it off when the liver gets damaged and can’t clear the green-pigment toxin (phylloerythrin).
You’ll see it first on the white-faced or light-skinned cattle, sheep, and goats: ears drooping, eyelids swollen, noses and udders red and peeling, animals crowding into any shade they can find or standing belly-deep in the tank. It hits FAST – sometimes in just hours after sun-up on a clear day.
Notice the early signs or you’ll be doctoring animals when you’d rather be deer hunting.
Quick checklist – do this TODAY (yes, even the day before Thanksgiving):
- Ride or fly the drone over pastures and look for those culprit plants, especially in draws and south slopes where they stay green.
- Make sure every pasture with light-skinned stock has real shade or a barn they’ll actually use.
- If you see even one animal with puffy eyes or crusty ears, get them in the barn NOW and call your vet. Every hour in the sun makes it ten times worse.
- Check liver fluke control – they’re a major player in Type III (the most common kind).
This ain’t regular sunburn. This is skin literally cooking from the inside out because of a toxin + sunlight combo. It’s painful, expensive, and 100% preventable if you stay ahead of it.
So enjoy tomorrow. Eat the extra piece of pecan pie. Hug your people. Tell your wife or husband you love ’em. But before you carve that turkey, take 20 minutes to look at your cattle.
Your future self (and your bank account) will thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving, folks. Stay safe, stay grateful, and give those critters some shade options!
