West Texas Rangelands
West Texas RangelandsWe hope to provide a variety of information from current news stories, prescribed burning, wildfires, brush control, and cow-calf management!

Let’s Dance: Finding a Fire Rhythm for a Native Perennial Grass

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As rangeland ecologists and managers, we are quick to produce definitive results  after short-term treatments or management strategies.  For example, many of our research studies revolve on the same timeline as graduate students.  That in rangeland time, is pretty dang short.  That’s why this study is so important.  It is the first of its kind and it emphasizes just how crucial long-term research is, because what we think is the answer may just be the tip of the iceberg.  There are certain rhythms to pick up on, especially after fire.  We just need to stick around long enough with it, to find that rhythm.  

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Herbicide Efficacy Following Defoliation on Honey Mesquite

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Grasshoppers are in full force this year!  Has that delayed your foliar herbicide applications on mesquite? If herbicide application success is dependent on optimal uptake through healthy, mature leaves, then what effect can varying defoliation rates have on herbicide efficacy of clopyralid, triclopyr, and clopyralid+triclopyr applications?

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Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: A Pocket Guide for Planning and Design

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Have you seen the latest Pocket Guide from the Great Plains Grasslands Extension Partnership? This Pocket Guide integrates new guidelines for reducing woody encroachment with a planning process. It is also an important resource that further incorporates the latest, science-based approaches for reducing woody encroachment.

 

 

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Remove, Reduce, or Manipulate? Best Practices for Brush Management Conservation Standards in Great Plains Grasslands

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One of the biggest confusion points in brush management is the decision between removing, reducing, or manipulating woody plants. Past management decisions have addressed the symptoms of woody encroachment but not the root cause of the problem. To contribute to the efforts to confront the loss of grasslands at county and state, clarity is needed on which woody species need complete removal versus species who can be reduced or manipulated  without the threat of grassland loss.

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22.4 Million Tons of Rangeland Production Lost to Woody Encroachment in Great Plains Grasslands

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Did you know that 22.4 million tons of rangeland production are lost annually in the Great Plains to woody encroachment? Or that The Great Plains accounts for approximately 95% of the nation’s lost rangeland production to woody encroachment?

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Rangeland Analysis Platform Virtual Training

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Rangeland Analysis Platform, also known as RAP, have you heard of it? It is a platform that was created with a partnership between the University of Montana (UM), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI).

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