Because of the negative attention that agricultural chemicals so commonly receive, some landowners are hesitant to apply herbicides to pastures and hay fields. In a effort to help these landowners determine whether or not a herbicide applications is warranted, the Gallatin County Extension Service conducted several Twilight Pasture Walk sessions on local farms and other properties in the county. 

The goals of these pasture walks were three-fold: to identify common pasture weeds; to establish which of these weeds are likely to cause the most problem; and different types of measures used to control the weeds.

In all, over 20 Gallatin County landowners attended these programs. 

The results of these twilight walks may be best expressed by some of the comments made by those who attended.

• "I didn't know there were ways to control weeds without using chemicals."
• "I didn't know we had so many invasive plants in Gallatin County!"
• "I'm gonna try to control weeds earlier before they get too big to spray."

As a side benefit of the Twilight Pasture Walks, when told that the Monarch Butterfly population has shrunk by 80 percent, some of the producers even agreed to allow the milkweed to grow on parts of their farms. Two attendees even asked about sources for milkweed seeds.