It’s fire season in the Kansas Flint Hills. Research and experience have shown controlled or prescribed burning helps maintain grassland health and reduces wildfire risk.
Kansas cattle producer Debbie Lyons-Blythe says she can remember watching pasture burning at a young age.
“I grew up in the Kansas Flint Hills,” Lyons-Blythe says. “My family has always burned pasture. I remember being involved when I was a young. Burning promotes biodiversity. The absolute best way to control invasive species, specifically the eastern red cedar, is to light a fire. Burning promotes better grazing and improves weight gains for cattle.”
Lyons-Blythe shares her experiences as a mom, wife and rancher on a Kansas cattle ranch on her website, Facebook and Instagram accounts. You can find her at Kids, Cows and Grass.
She says even though the prairie was designed by nature, it is mankind’s responsibility to help maintain it.
One of her posts, written for a consumer audience, explained the top five reasons to prescribe burn.
1. Use fewer chemicals.
“We have lost 96% of the native prairie to cropland or it has become infested with trees. When the eastern red cedar engulfs the prairie, we lose deep-rooted, carbon-sequestering native plants. Without fire to control the woody invasion, we will have to turn to chemicals for widespread control. That not only increases expense, but also labor and safety.”
2. Better weight gain on livestock with fresh, green, more nutritious grass.
“The Flint Hills of Kansas is cow country. Our land is mostly grass and millions of cattle come here each spring to grow before heading to feedlots.”
3. Promote better use of grasses by livestock.
“By burning off the old, dead grass, fresh green grass regrows quickly and draws livestock to it. We can manage their grazing pattern based on where we burn.”
4. Weed control.
“Kill woody shrubs and trees and promote biodiversity. We don’t plant this grass; we just have to keep the invasive trees and weeds out. By maintaining a health prairie, we promote natural diversity in plant species.”
5. To encourage wildlife population.
“What’s good for cows is good for wildlife. Burning keeps trees out of prairie. Trees provide habitat for animals that prey on prairie chicken and other upland birds.”
Strategy to prevent wildfires
The thought of fire can be scary to those who have experienced a wildfire. But a well-planned controlled burn is a proactive and smart tool to prevent wildfires by reducing fuel sources, particularly cedar trees.
“You can talk about climate change, but the main driving force is fuels, and they’re not being managed,” says Terry Bidwell, Oklahoma State University retired Extension range specialist.
Fuel management is a strategy both Lyons-Blythe and Bidwell agree will be key to reducing wildfires like those that recently occurred in Oklahoma and California.
Lyons-Blythe explains the sparks to start a wildfire can be as simple as somebody dragging a chain on the highway, power lines sparking in the wind or a lightning strike.
“The problem is that if a spark gets into those tall cedar trees they go up like a torch,” she explains. “They throw sparks for miles if there is any kind of wind.”
Bidwell also shares his concern about the potential for wildfires in the Eastern U.S. if something is not done to stop cedar trees taking over forests.
“The Eastern U.S. is set up for worse, catastrophic fires under these long-term, periodic droughts,” he explains. “It will be much worse than anything we have seen out West.”
Listen to Bidwell on the “Blazin’ Grazin’ and Other Wild Things” podcast.
Your Next Read: Tips for a Successful Burn: A Natural Solution to Ecosystem Health
