Rangeland
Brush control: what it costs, what waiting costs
On grazing value alone, brush control is close to a wash on the average acre. Which acres you treat, and when, is what decides it. Put your own numbers in.
Your numbers
$10
profit per acre
$9,830
over 30 years
$23,500
you pay now
Pays for itself at these numbers.
What waiting costs
Hits 30% canopy in 8 years, when spray stops working.
+3 years
$1,170
at 27% canopy
+5 years
$1,950
at 28% canopy
+10 years
$50,250
at 32% canopy · mechanical
What decides it
Swing in profit per acre, low to high
- Share of cost covered by cost-share$35
- Grazing value of an acre at full production$35
- Share of brush killed for good$27
- How hard brush suppresses grass$21
- Spray cost$12
- Discount rate$11
- How fast brush comes back$5
- Years before the grass responds$5
- Brush canopy before treatment$1
For the owner
1,000 acres costs $23,500 after a 50% cost-share and returns $9,830 over 30 years. Waiting five years adds $1,950. Biggest lever: share of cost covered by cost-share, $35 an acre.
Measured on 12,000 acres of Texas Coastal Bend rangeland
60% high
Free 30 m brush maps overstated canopy by more than half against laser survey of the same ground.
9× faster
Ground within 60 m of heavy brush gains canopy nine times more often. Held across all 11 soil units tested.
2× the cost
Past 30% canopy the spray stops working and the job turns mechanical.
How it works, and what to distrust
Forage falls as canopy rises. Treatment kills part of the stand for good; survivors rebuild toward a level below the start. Cost rises with canopy and steps up at closure. Benefits are discounted over the years you choose.
Starting values are typical, not yours. Bids, lease rates, and cost-share terms vary by county and year. The ranking of levers holds across a wide range; the dollar amounts only mean something once you put your own numbers in. Root kill is the one worth arguing hardest about — it turns on spray timing, and huisache is the harder kill.
Planning tool, not a treatment recommendation. Herbicide choice, rates, and timing are label-specific. Work them out with your supplier, applicator, and extension office.
Knowing which acres takes measuring the brush. We map canopy and rate of change across whole ranches. Cost per acre falls sharply when neighbours share one collection.
Talk to us