ABSTRACT
Significant economic losses from perennial snakeweed infestations have occurred. These losses include suppression of desirable forage production with reduced rangeland carrying capacity; livestock poisoning with increased abortions, poor conception, and poor animal health, reduced sale weights and increased death losses. This chapter examines economic losses to perennial snakeweed under various livestock price situations and to investigate the economic potential for implementing control programs. Forage response from controlling snakeweed depends on the amount of snakeweed present before treatment, the amount of grass in the understory, effectiveness of the control treatment, subsequent rainfall, and follow-up grazing management. Losses from the heavier snakeweed infestations were determined using with snakeweed and without snakeweed comparison of livestock production from a representative section of rangeland, assuming year-long grazing capacity. An estimated 3.5 million ha in Texas and New Mexico are so densely covered with snakeweed that favorable forage production is greatly suppressed and livestock poisoning is a problem.
