Article 02

Grab a box of popcorn and a notepad, 'cause I'm about to seriously tick off a lot of fine folk who work in prickly pear management. If you're reading this, I'm guessing you're probably having an issue with prickly pear on your place, right? First off, let me 'clue you in' on something about this business:

Paying people to 'Spray' or 'Mechanically Control' your prickly pear cactus is generally a CRAP DEAL for a livestock rancher. There, I said it!

It's even sadder, because both of these methods have TRUSTED academic credentials behind them.

Yup, I can already hear half my Facebook comment feed chiming back with, "But I sprayed my cactus a few years back, it did the job just fine!" To those people, I say, "Congratulations! Now what about the REST OF US? The relatively silent majority who either did what you did, and weren't so lucky, or flat out couldn't do it at all?"

Then there's the OTHER half of the comment feed saying, "Whut?! Prickly pear is EASY to kill! Had my cactus bulldozed about a month back... haven't seen it since!" To those people, I say, "Hush sweetie, the grown-ups are talking here... See you in 3-6 months when you finally figure out what you just did to your place."

Now before I go any further... just know we are willing to concede the possibility that we may well be WRONG about some of the points we cover here. All we can do is offer you the facts as WE understand them. Also, before we became 'The Cactus Guys', be aware that we also struggled with prickly pear. Probably just like you?

In our case, we started out with 35 acres of medium-density prickly pear, shin/thigh deep. Struggled with it for 15 years, and made it MUCH WORSE for a very long time before we finally found something that worked well for us and our clients. So what's the problem? Why did I say you're getting a 'crappy deal'?

Alright, Let's Get 'Mechanical Control' Out Of The Way First... That's The Easy One:

Technically, the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension's website DOES have an entire page dedicated to Mechanical Control... with just a single '4-sentence paragraph' on it, and a bunch of blank space. That alone should tell you something about the 'value' of traditional mechanical control for prickly pear.

Put very simply, Bulldozers, Shredders, Mowers, Roller-Choppers, Blading-Methods, Chaining-Methods, Structural Steel Tow, and even SHOVELS, have two things in common: Not only do they cause the WRONG type of damage, they all cause the SAME wrong type of damage.

Yes, you read that right: They all create intact cactus pieces, each with enough moisture and nutrient reserves, to set down roots and become new plants on your place. One plant can become 'many plants' on you very quickly, on account that when you cut a piece off your prickly pear, and that piece lays on the ground, it's gonna sprout ANOTHER prickly pear.

Of course, we tell people this, and there's always that guy who chimes in with, "Well, just pick up what you knock down so it doesn't touch the ground and re-grow..." Our own experience says debris pick-up is just not worth the time, the effort, or the money. We’ve seen people (ourselves included) try fighting the re-growth issues by picking up cactus debris and dumping it onto a flat concrete slab, only to watch this crap turn into thriving plants on solid concrete!

We've also seen others burn their debris, only to see the leftover root networks put up NEW pads to replace the ones our guys took away and burned. It's just too resilient, it grows too fast, and the above methods damage your cactus in a way that actually does it a favor.

Still think it's worth paying someone to do that to your prickly pear?

Well even if you DID somehow manage to pick 'everything' up (not likely), it’s dirty, unpleasant, and time-consuming work. It also leaves you with a skin-full of tiny and painful cactus needles, and the work can take a toll on you physically, which is NOT good if you’re like us, and you have a bad back and knees.

So please, listen to 'The Voice Of 15 Years Experience' with traditional mechanical control methods: Hitting this stuff with the WRONG type of damage will make your cactus worse! Still don't believe me? Welp, I tried! But I gotta move on for the rest of the folk. Fact is, there are too many other experienced people reading this stuff right now, and they are already 'on the same page' as us. So for their sake, I'm moving on to sprays now.

The 'Spray Business' In A Nutshell:

Texas A&M Agrilife Extension has a comprehensive series of articles and fact sheets on their Texas Natural Resources Server related to spray control. So all this 'crazy' stuff I'm about to tell you next? Well guess what, all of it is 100% 'backed up' by this resource.

I'll even use direct quotes and include a link to that resource at the very bottom of this text, for all the people who will NO DOUBT have difficulty swallowing the things I'm about to say next.

In the Agrilife Articles (as I call them), you learn 'the basics' about what they call 'The Pad or Stem Spray Method' for prickly pear: what this method works best on, when to apply it, how to prepare the equipment, how to mix the chemicals, and even how to estimate the costs of doing all this.

I'll give you an example: the articles tell you that there are, "... two methods to control prickly pear and other cacti that are easy, inexpensive, environmentally responsible, and effective. "

They say that one method, "...involves spraying a small but potent concentration of herbicide directly on the pads or stems of individual plants. "

They also mention mechanical control, but we've already talked about that. Moving on.

So then, on the subject of spray cost, they say, "Your actual costs may vary considerably from the estimate you develop using this brochure, depending upon the size of your plants, the efficiency of your workers, and the type of equipment used."

They also go on to say that, "Cost of treatment increases rapidly as density and size of prickly pear or other cacti increases."

But with spraying, you can normally expect to, "... kill at least 7 out of 10 plants treated. "

These are direct quotes, folks! On paper, it all sounds pretty darned reasonable, doesn't it?

Let's Look At How This Information Translates To The REAL WORLD:

You 'ask around' and locate a guy to do some spraying for you. The average price range is around $30-300 an acre to spray it. You pay the nice person. That person leaves with your money. Then you wait 2-4 YEARS to find out whether you:

A. Wasted your money.

B. At most TEMPORARILY controlled your prickly pear, by up to 70%.

Why do we say the wait period is 2-4 years? Well it says it right there in the articles, "Prickly pear dies very slowly following application of pad or stem sprays. Total plant kill may take two or three years."

Actually, we found out through our clients that the number can be as high as 4 years. Whatever.

If you get Outcome 'A' for a result, you're pretty well screwed! You might actually get *some* of your chemical money back, but I would NOT hold your breath for getting ANY of the application money back. That's gone.

So let's talk common reasons for why 'A' could happen to you:

1. Sometimes, it's the terrain and grass itself that's the issue. A lot of the time the grass is up over the top of 'em... or at least the same height as your cactus, and maybe mesquites are also covering them too? In that situation, the spray sometimes never even makes it to the cactus strong enough to actually do anything to it! There's just too much stuff in the way.

2. It could be your trees. What if the rest of your place is covered in a mass of good tree canopy, and a lot of the cactus is up under that? Well, then you're probably looking for 'alternative ways' to get rid of that cactus without hurting your good trees then... because obviously you don't want to poison cactus that's close to those!

But what if Outcome 'B' happens instead?

The articles say, "Your results may vary with weather and other conditions, but you should be able to knock out more than 7 of 10 of the prickly pear or cacti treated."

So let's say you sprayed, waited 2-4 years, and saw 70% control of your cactus?

Well then I guess you've created a *little* more grazing area, didn't you? At least for a few years before having to pay to spray it AGAIN. Don't believe me? "Remember that controlling prickly pear and cacti is not a one-time job."

Yes, you're reading that correctly: they're basically telling you the cactus comes back when you stop writing the checks!

• So if Outcome 'A' happens, you're lucky if you can get ANY of your money back.

• If Outcome 'B' happens, your cactus comes back if you ever STOP paying these guys to spray it... when they tell you to do so. In this case, It usually works out to every 2-3 years, FOREVER, even if you're only spot spraying. You can thank the County Extension Agents in Texas for that answer.

For some though? Spraying actually DOES work on prickly pear as promised. Unfortunately, a lot of us have neighbors who live close to us, who've said it just, "wasn't a good experience," for them, and if you have neighbors like this? Well, that's a pretty STRONG indicator that spraying won't be good for you either.

The truth is, your chances of success with spraying are, at best, 'iffy'. And at $30-300 an acre, it's a LOT of money to put up on something, especially when you're not 100% sure it will even WORK for your situation. More often than not, we've seen guys spray and just not get ANY results.

Zero. Nothing. Nada.

Then there's the people who aren't even ABLE to spray them, mainly because of the terrain and the tree cover they got. Or sometimes the COST is the big issue, especially if you don't own the land, because it's just not worth putting that kind of money in. Then there's that ridiculous wait time: cactus takes FOREVER to die on sprays!

So let me ask you something:

In what universe does ANY part of this arrangement sound like a 'good deal' for YOU? I thought the 'whole idea' was to pay all that money for more grazing area... NOT to wait 2-4 YEARS to see if it did anything to your cactus at all? Look...

...If You PAY Someone To Get Rid Of Your Cactus So You Can Have More Grazing Area For Livestock And Horses, Here's What That Deal Should NEVER Look Like:

1. It should never make you wait 2-4 years to have the grazing area you need RIGHT NOW.

2. It should never put you in a position where you can wind up out quite a bit of money with no results, and/or can't recover ALL your money if you aren't happy with the result you got from it!

3. It should never make you wait 2-4 years before you can ensure your animals are safe from cactus and not getting hooked on pears! If you've ever lost good bulls to cactus, then you don't want to wait years, and risk losing MORE of them at $4,000-5,000 a head! Same goes for cows at $1,600-1,700 a head. At $30-300 an acre, your animals shouldn't even have NEEDLES in their noses!

4. It should never leave you guessing as to whether it will work or not. You need a way to be 100% CERTAIN that 'X Method' will, in fact, work for your situation, before you so much as give that service person a DIME of your money!

5. It should never make you wonder, literally the day after the service was already carried out, whether it even did ANYTHING to your cactus at all. You should ALWAYS know, before, during, and after the business transaction, that you made the RIGHT decision about your prickly pear.

6. It should never give snakes, rats, and mice a free place to hide out for 2-4 years while you're waiting for your cactus to die... instead, it should be handing out 'little eviction notices' at DAY ONE.

7. Finally, it should never make the problem worse afterward, either!

So now I'm asking you: If a deal, just like the one I described above, actually EXISTED out there somewhere, wouldn't you at least like to hear about it? Yup, figured you might!

What if I told you that that you can use a simple technique, with a proven track record, to create more safe grazing area IMMEDIATELY, keep your livestock and horses protected from cactus FOREVER, eventually achieving this result PERMANENTLY, without hurting your good trees and grasses?

I'll straight up tell you that we have a horrible business model! Why? Because we actually solve your problem, that's why:

You learn our dirt-simple strategy. You use it the way we tell you and when we tell you. You get rid of your prickly pear. You solve your problem permanently, roots and all, and then you don't need us anymore.

There isn't exactly a lot of room for repeat business, I'm afraid.

If that's something that interests you, then I strongly urge you to sign up for our FREE 2-Part 'Cactus Classroom' Course and limited Newsletter Series if you haven't done so already.

The course is a quick finish, each lesson can be consumed at your leisure, and will COMPLETELY change the way you look at the prickly pear cactus on your place. In it, I'll show you our technique in detail, and by the end of the course, you'll have a 100% rock-solid strategy for having LESS cactus and MORE grazing.

Go Sign-Up If You Haven't Already.

I'll see you in the classroom! You should be receiving Chapter 01 immediately.

Talk Soon,

Dr. Gary W. Johnson and James Johnson A.K.A The Cactus Guys!

P.S. You can also read the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension article series here to see what we were talking about. http://texnat.tamu.edu/about/brush-busters/pricklypear/

Prediction: This Article WILL Anger Some Friends And Colleagues Of Ours In Prickly Pear Management

Ready to Get Started?