- Author: Rebecca Ozeran
Tarweeds, vinegarweed and turkey mullein are native forbs that stand out in Fresno and Madera County rangelands during the summer. Unfortunately, they aren't the most welcome. Horse owners despise tarweed because its sticky resin turns even brightly colored horses a grim muddy color; many rangeland owners dislike vinegarweed for its pungent smell; and turkey mullein, though common, is often disregarded until it looks like it has taken over dozens of acres overnight.
Although their native status may appease some landowners – they can provide food and habitat for some bird and pollinator species – most ranchers couldn't care less. Why, you may ask? These plants are poor forage for livestock, and most animals tend to...
- Author: Rebecca Ozeran
In the job listing for my position, weed identification and management were never explicitly mentioned. “Natural resource efforts” in the listing only mentioned water, forage, soils and “the wide array of issues” relating to rangeland ecosystem services. Of course, pests are an issue relating to rangeland ecosystem services (healthy water, soil, and air; biodiversity; etc.), but when I first joined UCCE, I did not expect to spend a large amount of time on weeds.
Now I know, a year and a half in, an incoming phone call is more likely to relate to weed management than to any other topic. Ranch visits for any purpose will usually include a discussion of weedy species on the property. While weed management is...
- Author: Theresa A. Becchetti
- Posted by: Gale Perez
Here is a short summary written by Theresa Becchetti, University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Livestock and Natural Resource Advisor on the Effects of Medusahead on Beef Cattle Gains project.
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Livestock and Natural Resource Advisors, Specialists, and faculty have been researching Medusahead (an invasive grass with lower grazing quality) for many years now. We know it reduces carrying capacity on rangelands, creates a thatch that can become a fire hazard, and reduces the diversity of plants on rangelands to the extreme...
- Author: Thomas Getts
Last year about this time, I posted a blog regarding an ongoing trial investigating various herbicides for Pre-emergent Control of Medusahead. I wanted to follow up on that trial which I “deemed” unsuccessful and share some of the data collected in 2017.
The main objective of the study was to test various herbicides for medusahead control. I was interested if some of the work conducted at Colorado State with Esplanade (indaziflam) could be replicated with medusahead. In Colorado field trials, single applications of Esplanade had offered three-year...
- Author: Rebecca Ozeran
As you can tell by going through archived blogs on this site, medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) is an extremely popular grass. Well, an infamous one, perhaps. I am fairly certain that none of us actually like it. In this blog I will add to the plethora of medusahead posts; but first, a public service announcement.
On May 2, 2017, there will be a Medusahead Management Workshop at Lindcove REC, in Exeter. Online registration is available at ucanr.edu/medusahead. This workshop aims to inform attendees about medusahead biology, its economic impact on cattle operations, and a variety of tools available to...