Category Archives: Plant ID

Dr. Jake Landers’ Thoughts on Mesquite

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Dr. Jake Landers morphed into a Range Father of mine overnight.  The second I met him he was my hero. Dr. Jake Landers served as an Extension Range Specialist at the Texas A & M Research and Extension Center, San Angelo in 1979.  He developed techniques and procedure for individual plant treatment of brush and prickly pear cactus for ranchers in 17 counties.  He initiated prescribed burning as a procedure for managing rangeland to reduce undesirable species and stimulate grasses.  He wrote short articles for newspapers and magazines… Read More →

Prussic Acid Misconceptions – Dr. Ted McCollum

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Dr. Ted McCollum, Extension Beef Cattle Specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, explains that prussic/cyanide levels when there is a frost/freeze event is one of the most confusing and misleading statements in most extension and popular press articles.  Here’s the skinny on the actual facts brought to you by thee Dr. McCollum: “The cyanide(prussic acid) in plants does not exist in a free, liberated state.  The cyanide is part of a larger molecule called a cyanogenic glycoside. In members of the sorghum family this compound is Dhurrin; in… Read More →