According to the U.S. Forest Service, fire can be good in maintaining a healthy and balanced ecosystem.
The right fire, at the right place, at the right time:
• Reduces hazardous fuels, protecting communities from extreme fires
• Minimizes the spread of pest insects and disease
• Removes unwanted species that threaten an ecosystem’s native species
• Provides forage
• Recycles nutrients back to the soil
• Promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers and other plants
Prescribed burning is a practice used by farmer and ranchers in certain geographical areas. When grazing cattle, burning off a pasture can be beneficial in the regrowth of high nutrient content forage. In some parts of the country, like the Flint Hills, prescribed burning is a yearly event.
The Kansas Forest Service recommends these five steps for a safe burn:
- Develop a plan.
Obtain all necessary permits and equipment required to burn and contact your neighbors to sync up burns. - Prepare the site.
Create areas where the fire will break, such as mowed areas. Cut down any trees or vegetation that could catch fire. - Observe the weather.
Closely monitor the weather for when you’ll be burning. The forest service recommends burning on days where winds blow 8 mph to 13 mph and humidity is above 30%. - Monitor the burn.
Notify your county dispatch 30 minutes prior to the burn and keep a close eye out as it progresses. - Check and re-check the site.
Patrol the burn’s edge repeatedly after the burn is complete, extinguishing any remaining flames. Re-check the site for several days afterward.
Terry Bidwell, Oklahoma State University retired Extension range specialist, discussed the benefits of patch and late-season burns during a recent “Blazin’ Grazin’ and Other Wild Things” podcast.
Patch burning is a tool producers can use to target different patches of land at different times. Benefits include cattle are attracted to recently burned areas, thus provides a rotational grazing option without physical fences. It also allows burning during different times of the season to help manage undesirable plants.
According to the podcast late-season or summer burns, compared to normal dormant season burns, impact the woody plants that can cause issues in pastures.
Burn plans should consider temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of the vegetation and conditions for the dispersal of smoke.
Kansas cattle producer Debbie Lyons-Blythe and her family use the Kansas Flint Hills Smoke Management Website and the site’s smoke modeling tool to see where the smoke will go from a fire in their location based on current wind and weather conditions.
“It’s a great resource because it’ll help you decide where your smoke is going to go,” Lyons-Blythe explains. “You input into the website where you’re going to burn, how many acres you’re going to burn and how much fuel there is — low, moderate, high. And it will then show you how much smoke and where it will go.”
Producers can use the resource as a tool to decide to burn a smaller patch instead of sending a huge amount of smoke to a metropolitan area.
Your Next Read: Prescribed Burns: Keeping the Prairie Alive; Preventing Wildfires
