As long as they hope for rain, ranchers will have to work to manage brush.

That’s the message Dr. Allan McGinty, professor and Texas AgriLife Extension range specialist, gave during a recent brush control workshop at the Lampasas County Farm Bureau Building.

McGinty’s presentation emphasized the characteristics and effective treatment of mesquite, cedar — technically “juniper” — and prickly pear, which he called the three most pervasive brush species Central Texas landowners face.

Although fire and mechanical means can help manage brush, McGinty emphasized brush control plans that incorporate scientifically tested herbicides in addition to more labor-intensive technologies.

With mesquites, for example, hand-clearing alone often fails, particularly if landowners do not cut low enough on the trees. Mesquites will survive shearing — often proliferating as multibranched, unwieldy trees — McGinty said, unless they are cut below the first branched root.

“When messing with mesquite, if you don’t kill it, stay away from it,” the range specialist said. “The worst thing you can do is shred it. It looks pretty, but it will spread faster than anything.”

Effective herbicide control of mesquites, McGinty said, depends on precise timing. Landowners should spray mesquite leaves after leaves have finished growing and when rain is not imminent. At this time, McGinty said, trees transport herbicides, along with carbohydrates, downward throughout the plant and toward their roots.

Ranchers can spray stems at any time of year, he said, as pesticides sprayed close to the ground do not have far to reach the buds of a tree. A clopyralid product called “Reclaim” works well for mesquite leaf spray, McGinty said, and a triclopyr herbicide called “Remedy” has proven effective for stem-spray mesquite control.

He cautioned, however, against using Remedy or similar products when the temperature is higher than 90 degrees. Vapors from the oil-soluble product can kill tomatoes, grapes and cotton within a mile or two of the application site, the professor said.

Although cedars, like mesquites, are native to Texas, they also can decrease rangeland production significantly, McGinty said. Juniper particularly hinder healthy forage growth, as they catch large amounts of water that otherwise could have nourished grass. Several studies, McGinty said, have shown that where juniper canopy cover reaches 50 percent, each acre of land intercepts about six inches less of rain per year than under normal conditions.

Ash juniper — which produce blue berries — and redberry juniper account for most of the cedar population in and around Lampasas County, McGinty said. Because only female junipers produce berries, the Extension specialist said ranchers trying to identify brush species should look for white specks on the needles of redberry cedars.

Recommended cedar herbicides include picloram and hexazinone products. McGinty warned that the hexazinone herbicide called Velpar, while an effective cedar control, also kills other trees, especially oaks.

“It doesn’t know a good tree from a bad one,” McGinty said. “It like to have killed them all.”

Hi-Light, although expensive, he said, is safe for oaks and works well for leaf spray on junipers, as it has about a 90 percent cedar kill rate.

Chemical treatment, McGinty said, also helps control the more than 25 known species of prickly pear — plants that the Extension specialist said can provide emergency food for cattle during a drought but that pose dangers for sheep and goats.

Surmount and Vista XRT work well on prickly pear pads and stems, he said. The more expensive Vista XRT, McGinty added, is safer for trees than Surmount.

Landowners should time their spraying of prickly pear for as soon as possible after a rain. Burning or running over prickly pear with off-road vehicles before applying herbicides also seems to help kill the plants, the range specialist said. One rancher McGinty knows shot a patch of cactus with a shotgun before spraying it.

“I think it made him feel better,” McGinty said.

The professor advised patience when treating prickly pear, as he said kill percentages are low until the third year after the initial herbicide application. Only about 7 percent die within one year, and just less than half die by the end of the second year. Within three years, however — even without spraying in the second or third year — herbicides, on average, remove 94 percent of treated prickly pear.

Jason Byrd, county AgriLife Extension agent, briefly explained the rules and licensing requirements that govern those who use herbicides and pesticides.

Commercial applicators, whom property owners pay for herbicide spraying services, must pay a $180 fee each year and must obtain five continuing education credits annually to renew their licenses. Private applicators — this category includes most farmers and ranchers — pay a $60 fee once every five years and must obtain 15 continuing education units in that time period.

Although private applicators may use herbicides only for agricultural purposes and may not spray weeds in lawns, they may supervise non-licensed pesticide users — such as ranch hands — on property the licensed private applicator owns or controls.

In addition, private applicators must keep records of many conditions relevant to their brush control activity, including the site treated, the amount of product used, wind speed and direction, and the temperature at the time of herbicide spraying.

To ensure safety, Byrd said, those who treat brush or weeds should wear protective gear — including pants and long-sleeve shirts — avoid touching their face or exposed skin, keep chemicals in their original containers to prevent accidental poisonings and avoid exceeding the maximum recommended product use levels printed on product labels.

“Trust me, there’s no need to exceed the maximum recommended rate...,” Byrd said. “Most of the time if you did, you’d just be wasting the product.”

Applicators also should know and abide by the recommended time intervals between chemical application and safe re-entry to the treated land. Grazing restrictions and maximum annual herbicide applications apply for some products, Byrd added.

Information about brush control chemical regulations can be found at agr.state.tx.us/ pesticide or by phoning the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Dallas office at (214) 631-0265. In addition, brush control brochures are available at the county office of the Texas AgriLife Extension on the first floor of the Lampasas County Office Building on Pecan Street.

Additional information is available at http://AgriLifebook store.org.