The dreaded mesquite
If you’ve been reading my blog, The Pastoralist, long enough you know that I am located in Southwest Texas. Parker Creek Ranch, my decade plus experiment in regenerative agriculture, is located in the heart of mesquite country. Pajarito Ranch, our Grazing Lands flagship ranch, also has a substantial population of mesquites. The honey mesquite, Prosopis glandulosa, ranges from Southern Mexico and as far north as New Mexico and Oklahoma. It has become the dominant woody plant species on more than 94,000,000 acres of rangeland. Its spread into rangelands is mostly attributed to the introduction of domestic livestock, although other factors include climate change, overgrazing, and the reduction of fire frequency. Although mesquites are naturally occurring in these areas, these changes have resulted in their being able to successfully outcompete other native plants and they are now considered invasive species because they are able to take advantage of vulnerable ecosystems. Simply put it’s one of the most dreaded woody species in our part of the country. Ranchers and other rangeland managers spend millions of dollars combating it’s encroachment every year. Even with all of their attempts to remove it, the mesquite lives on almost unabated.
Through the years I have hopefully learned a few lessons from the land. The mesquite tree has taught me quite a few of those lessons, some that began early in life. I climbed them as a child and learned to watch out for it’s giant thorns, sometimes reaching several inches long. I watched my father shred the vast fields of mesquite trees, just to watch them regrow within a year often as if they were angered by the disturbance. I have seen the cattle survive on mesquite beans during the most severe droughts ever recorded in our county. I built many beautiful pieces of furniture over the years from it’s twisted grains and dark wood. I’ve watched cattle bask in their shade on a hot August afternoon. Often times a lonely mesquite tree is their only liberation from the deadly summer heat. They are a twisted, gnarly tree that can often reach 30 feet tall on our ranch and it’s not uncommon to see one that is 24 to 36 inches in diameter. These are what we call “bull” mesquites. They grow in the valleys near creeks or within the vast floodplain. I reckon these were some of the first to set their roots on this land. When my family homesteaded this ranch in 1846 they wrote a letter back to family in Alsace. In that letter there was no mention of big mesquite trees. They did mention big live oak trees and a grassy valley with a running creek, neither of which are here today.
I for one love the mesquite tree. They require little water to survive and thrive. They have been feeding man and other animals for millennia with their sweat pods. They are a nitrogen fixing tree, thus fertilizing and restoring the soil that man has degenerated almost beyond repair. There simply is no other tree that can grow as easily and thrive in our harsh semi-arid environment. I was visiting a colleagues ranch near Post, Texas a few months ago. It’s an area referred to as the Caprock Canyons. Quite frankly a harsh, dry landscape ruined by the overgrazing of flocks of sheep and herds of cattle over the past few hundred years. They are in the early years of seeing mesquites invade their treeless rangelands. The topsoil is virtually gone from these rangelands and all that remains is a vast space filled with red rock, wind turbines and pump jacks. His son, who is in his mid twenties, was concerned about the mesquites encroaching on their landscape. All he could think of was what to do so that he could control the invasive species. He asked me for my advice and I simply said I wouldn’t worry about them. To let them take their course. He was baffled by my response at first. I explained that this was natures way of repairing the land. I would embrace the presence of mesquites. For certain they may cause some headaches. As humans most of our thoughts are severely short sighted. We think in hours, days or months. Very seldom do we think in years or decades, much less centuries. It’s just not in our nature. Earth happens over the millennia or often referred to as geologic time. The mesquites may be here for hundreds, or perhaps thousands of years filling a void, or niche that nature needs. We are arrogant in our thinking that we can control nature and its processes.
To be clear I’m not advocating by any means to allow mesquites to take over our rangelands. I am recommending that we find a balance. An ecosystem that can support our human needs as well as natures. An ecosystem that provides biodiversity, clean air, water and so much more. Perhaps we need to rethink our livestock and rangeland management practices beyond a bottle of poison. When they say “a picture says a thousand words” then the picture on top says it all. This hill that’s been barren and degraded from years of human abuse is trying to heal itself. Notice the only plant life you see is this lonely mesquite, but if you look below you will see the grasses beginning to take hold and thrive. No person had to plant a seed or spread fertilizer, just simply time. Take lessons from nature. We need the mesquite.
This blog is also posted on my personal blog, The Pastoralist. I hope you enjoyed reading the article. Any questions or comments please feel free to send me an email - travis@grazinglands.com
,Travis Krause
CEO & Founder at Grazing Lands
