good mixed brush diversity, with many different species — the places that haven’t been touched — be- cause those are pretty rare in South Texas.”
Clear correctly to be effi cient Kunz says the scenery has
changed a lot over the last 80 years. Landowners cleared an extensive amount of brush back then, using implements like root plows and big chains, and as a result different species have emerged. He explains, “A lot of these
plants down here resprout from the base. Their bud zone is in the base of the plant, so if you just top shred or aeriate, that plant is not killed and it will resprout. With the root plow you actually kill that plant and it can also affect the soil profi le, so when you root plow you get less brush diversity back. You get stuff like mesquite, prickly pear and much lower diversity with that type of implement.” Prickly pear and mesquite are
actually the 2 most important brush species in South Texas because they carry the region through droughts, but it becomes a problem when those are the only species present. In those areas, a landowner can
thin them to create more open ar- eas. Another problem lies with the introduced warm-season perennial grasses that have displaced native grasses. Kunz says they form mono- cultures that can be detrimental to wildlife. While it’s his job to consult with
landowners on how best to man- age their habitats for wildlife and livestock management, Kunz says people can benefi t if they stay away from generalizations and get advice from many sources. In addition to TPWD, there are specialists at US-
84 The Cattleman November 2013
DA’s Natural Resources Conserva- tion Service (NRCS) and with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. He adds, “Keep in mind you’re
not going to maximize both your wildlife operation and your live- stock operation. There’s a tradeoff. You can form a happy medium to get a maximum economic profi t, but you’re not going to make the most money on your livestock if you manage for wildlife.” One of those specialists is Dr.
Megan Clayton, assistant professor and Extension range specialist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Corpus Christi. Because of the prevalence of “resprouters” in South Texas with bud zones beneath the surface, “A lot of the work that we’re doing in the South Texas area has to do with working on managing pastures and rangelands with herbicides,” Clay- ton says. “If the top part of the plant is killed it will come back, often multi-stemmed. So a lot of what
There’s an art to brush management. Some land is better to improve for livestock and some areas can be kept aside for wildlife management.
we do is trying to fi gure out what different chemicals would work on different plant species, and also what rate of chemical is necessary so that landowners can not only use the right chemicals, but use just as much as they need to be more cost effective.”
thecattlemanmagazine.com
During the spring and summer
the focus is on mesquite, which has traditionally been controlled with a mix of Remedy (triclopyr) and Reclaim (clopyralid). Clayton says a newer product called Sendero is a mixture of Remedy and Milestone (aminopyralid), “and that product
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