“Managing invasive brush in pasture lands is a continuing battle for landowners.”
Timberland was scant when covered wagon train travelers went West a century-and-a-half and longer ago, whereby a tree along a creek was an unusual and welcome sight. Far from the case today, as a wide variety of brush has intruded native grasslands, vastly reducing grazing production.
Eastern Kansas could become a forest without efforts to control the fast growing brush that’s encroaching the state, according to speakers at the “Brush Battles” program presented Friday afternoon at Allen by the Lyon County Conservation District.
Alex Miller, Natural Resources Conservation Service range specialist, and Brian Rees, Lyon County Extension agricultural agent, both of Emporia, reviewed effective protocols for managing the invasivewoody perennial plants.
“It is estimated that Oklahoma loses 762 acres a day from brush invasion. That’s land cattle could be grazing,” said Miller, insisting that Kansas’ dilemma is similar.
“Between 1989, and 2010, there was a 382 percent increased red cedar coverage in Riley County,” Miller pointed out.
Aerial maps of one area farm revealed how timber has replaced productive crop and pastureland from 1959, through 2014. “What will the Midwest grasslands be like in 20 years?” Miller questioned.
Bulldozing is considered quick-fix brush control. However, Miller said, “It is expensive, and could require reseeding. However, more importantly there will generally be re-sprouting of deciduous trees, often with multiplying effect; one tree becomes a half dozen or more.”
Brush clippers and hydraulic tree saws on skid steers are effective methods to drop trees, but it’s essential to apply ample chemical control treatment to the stumps. “Trees will still often re-sprout from the disturbance, requiring follow-up application,” Miller stated.
Showing a picture of an elaborate “brush flail,” the range specialist said, “Mowing or use of a brush flail reduces brush piling, chips fallen trees, reduces smoke emissions and is especially good for red cedar control, but locust and hedge need to be dead before use, or they’ll often re-sprout.”
Chainsaws and brush trimmers have long been considered rancher-control tools for trees in pastures. “They are good for hard to reach spots, but slower than hydraulic tree saws. So, it’s essential to know and admit the limitations. Five acres is close to the maximum one person can do in a year.” Miller warned.
Brush should be piled immediately after cutting, because fallen trees limit grazing, while enhancing brush regrowth. “Piling is best on level ground, rather than on a hillside or in a draw, as erosion increases after the burn,” Miller contended.
Basal bark treatment, or “girdling,” which is cutting around the truck of a growing tree, allows herbicide to more surface area, although it is a slower kill, being most effective on small trees. “This does require more herbicide and is labor intensive, although two people can treat 100 trees in an hour,” Miller said.
However, after chores are completed on winter days, working on brush control is “priceless,” according to the speaker.
Contrary to manufacturer’s sales pitches, mist blowers “are not labeled for most herbicide applications,” Miller stated. “Even a small breeze can take the herbicide off target.”
Aerial Spraying is not generally recommended by the conservation service, according to Miller, who explained that it often kills off-target species, and can be deadly to neighbor farmers’ growing crops.
Biological control, such has a goat herd, Miller said, is “a good way to capitalize on a bad situation, a way to diversify an operation, but has high start-up costs, is not a permanent fix and there is no financial assistance from the conservation service.”
Regardless of the brush control operation, follow up management is required including spot spraying, prescribed grazing and sometimes lower stocking rates. “Grazing distribution with mineral, water source and patch burning allows pasture regrowth in disturbed areas,” Miller noted.
Additionally, rest during the growing season permits pasture to re-establish grasses, building fuel for fires and increases grass vigor.
A brush control program needs to include the whole pasture, but brush is always going to be reseeded by birds and cattle droppings, and from nearby hedge rows and trees, Miller emphasized.
To help landowners in brush battles, the conservation service offers the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, called EQIP.
“Cost-shared financial assistance for tree removal is based on the percentage of infestation,” Miller said.
For EQIP payments, trees must be placed on the ground, but bulldozing is generally not cost-shared.
Grasslands eligible for five-year EQIP cost-share contracts must be fenced for potential grazing, with specific areas cleared annually, or ahead of schedule, with payments at that time. “Prescribed burning and follow-up brush spraying are required,” Miller added.
“You need to know what brush you are targeting before you can do an effective job of attempting to control it with herbicides,” insisted Brian Rees.
Among the more common brush intruders, listed by Rees, are hedge, locust, blackberry, multiflora rose, and dogwood.
While red cedar infestations are a major problem in certain locales, the specialists did not delve into any control procedures, explaining that the trees can be cut off at ground level, piled and burned, and there will be no regrowth of that individual tree.
Still, incessant efforts are demanded for red cedar management, too, due to continued replanting and spread by wind and droppings.
“Based on type of application, and particular species, herbicide success will be better at different points in the growing season or life cycle of the target brush plant,” Rees said.
“Some herbicides are very effective at one time of the year, but may be totally ineffective at others, and can also depend on the application method,” Rees clarified.
Herbicide carriers, water, oil and surfactants make a “huge difference” in effectiveness. “Label directions must be followed, because that’s the reason they’re on it that way,” Rees said.
Clarifying importance of burning as a rangeland brush management tool, Rees said new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ozone rules came out October 1, 2015, with two changes that directly impact Flint Hills smoke management efforts.
The ozone standard was changed to 70 parts per billion (ppb), up from 75 ppb. “This increases the chance of an exceedance,” Rees warned.
Furthermore, the ozone season was extended to include March, effective in 2017. The attainment/non-attainment ozone status for Kansas will be established using data from 2014, 2015, and 2016, which includes next spring’s fire season.
“It is extremely important to keep ozone monitor readings in compliance this year as they will figure into the combined measurement,” Rees said.
Noting infestations and complications of additional grassland intruders including buckbrush, sumac, musk thistles, sericea lespedeza, and Old World Bluestem, the specialists can be contacted for control recommendations for these intrusive plants.
As a wrap-up, the group moved to a Lyon County pasture where locust trees had been girdled, or sawed around the trunk, with herbicide applied in the ring. “They appear dead now but it’s best to wait a year to verify that there is no regrowth before cutting the trees,” Miller said.
Sponsors for the program were Brush Busters LLC, Harveyville Seed Company, Schaefer Equipment and Scoggins Farms.