By Justin Walker
Communications Specialist

When it comes dealing with the perennial yaupon, ranchers often feel like they are fighting a never-ending battle. But according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts, there are control options.

Dr. Vanessa Corriher-Olsen, AgriLife Extension forage specialist, discussed control measures of yaupon at the O.D. Butler Forage Field Day at Camp Cooley Ranch.

“It’s a perennial and comes back even when controlling it at the shallow level,” she said. “Perennials can come back even from live root material. Yaupon is very invasive. You might have an area cleared and think you are done. However, that’s only temporary. It will come back.”

While mechanical clearing methods are helpful, they are not the solution.

Corriher-Olsen said there are several herbicides on the market to help ranchers. She said a mix of 15 percent Remedy Ultra, triclopyr, with 85 percent diesel can be used on the perennial within an hour of being cut down.

“That allows the herbicide to penetrate the remaining green plant cells inside the yaupon, preventing it from sprouting new growth,” Corriher-Olsen said.

Ranchers can also use a mixture of 25 percent Remedy Ultra and 75 percent diesel as a stem spray treatment. Corriher-Olsen said this can be applied year round but is most effective when the perennial is growing.

The summer months are a bad time to treat, Corriher-Olsen said, due to high temperatures and heat.

“High temperatures will lead to volatilization of herbicide into the canopy of desirable trees that the yaupon is growing under,” she said. “Mechanical removal is an option, but you will have resprouting, which will require herbicide applications.”

Yaupon is most commonly found in the fertile, moist soils of East Texas, as far south as Matagorda Bay and west to the edge of the Edwards Plateau.

For more information on yaupon treatment, including a mechanical demonstration, click here.