The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Monday, January 28, 2008
6
Application of Alternative Management Strategies for Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.) Control in Texas
Douglas J. Goodwin, Kent Ferguson, and Lem Creswell. USDA-NRCS, 403 Pogue Ave, Eastland, TX 76448
Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.) occurs on more than two-thirds or 30.7 million acres of Texas’s 90 million acres of rangelands (Hanselka et al., B-5046). Occurring with greatest densities in the central and western portions of the state, approximately 1.9 million acres are infested with moderate-to-dense stands (11 to 100 percent canopy cover) (Ueckert, 2003). The Natural Resources Conservation Service, in cooperation with the Isbell Ranch, Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, Dow Agro Sciences, and the Little River-San Gabriel Soil and Water Conservation District, initiated a comparative study to investigate prickly pear mortality and herbaceous responses to alternative management strategies in Williamson County, Texas . The project was focused around the premise that prescribed fire followed by a reduced-rate chemical treatment was the most effective strategy to control prickly pear. However, on ecological sites with excessive prickly pear densities and/or fine fuel loads insufficient to carry a fire, an alternative initial treatment needed to be recognized. This project involved utilizing mechanical control using a Hyster Grid-roller in combination with herbicide application for initial and follow-up prickly pear control. The study also investigated the effectiveness of Tordon 22K® (picloram) and Surmount® (picloram and fluroxypyr) at prescribed rates as a follow-up treatment. The scope of this project was to demonstrate economic alternatives to traditional methods of prickly pear control. The economic impact of this project can prove to be a valuable tool to many ranchers throughout the southwestern United States . This practice will provide a cost-effective method to reclaim prickly pear infested rangeland for livestock production and wildlife benefit.