Why do people set pasture on fire in the spring?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Around here, in Northeast central Missouri, I am noticing that a lot of folks burn pastures about now. I would understand if they were real brushy pastures, but they are not brushy at all. I'd ask them myself, but don't want to appear stupid. It's okay if you guys think I'm stupid, you're like family, ya' know. :-)

-- Debbie in MO (risingwind@socket.net), February 22, 2002

Answers

Pasture is burnt to promote the new growth of tender grasses, nature has been doing it forever via lightening; Native Americans were doing it when the Europians arrived. Pine cones must have the heat to reproduce, the cones only "explode" when subject to heat.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), February 22, 2002.

The ash from the burned grass and weeds lime the ground somewhat.You also destroy insect nests which in my opinion probably ends up being a negative.I generally bush hog cattle pastures,because the organic material rotting and mulching are alot more valuable than the ash.If I need to raise the PH,I put limestone on the land.From an organic standpoint don't think burning pastures is a very sound idea.

-- Gary (burnett_gary@msn.com), February 22, 2002.

Mother Nature thinks it's a very good idea.

-- Rose (Open_rose@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Mother nature does not have a tractor!

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), February 22, 2002.

Anyone who does this should read "Ever After a Father's True Story" by William Wharton. On August 3, 1988 there was a 23 car pile up in which his daughter, her husband and their 2 young children were burned alive in their van. The accident was caused by this routine agricultural practice of field burning. It is not only a poignant story of their lives and deaths, but also of the investigations, the lawyers, the judges, the insurance claims, the media, the compromises and the deals made regarding this case and the practice of field burning in Oregon.

-- rose marie wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), February 22, 2002.


Debbie, We don't burn pastures here in Wyoming. But we do burn the ditches. This removes the weeds or inhibits their growth. Weeds that are allowed to fluorish eventually steal water from our irrigation needs. If there's brush in the pasture I could see burning the brush, but not the pasture itself.

-- al (yr2012@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Both cool and warm season grasses can be stimulated by fire if it is timed right. Early spring is a common time in Missouri to burn cool season grasses. It removes old dead growth, returns nutrients to the soil and kills small trees and shrubs that may be invading the field. Smoke management is obviously a critical factor in doing prescribed burning. I've seen folks put smoke over I-70 in Missouri and shook my head at the danger and liability their thoughtless actions caused. Burning under power lines can also be a tricky thing. An intense column of smoke, say from a cedar tree crowning out, can conduct a bolt of electricity to the ground from the lines. Not fun if you're standing under the line when it happens. Prescribed burning can be quite challenging and fun and a cheaper and quicker way to get the results you want in open land management.

-- Susan in MO (smtroxel@socket.net), February 22, 2002.

I am in south central Mo and have ask a friend of mine that dose the same thing. She says they do it in early spring to control the ticks on there cows. She has about 200 acres.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), February 22, 2002.

Type in prescribed burning in a search engine. You will find rules and regulations in the various states, as well as the pros and cons of the practice.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Burning seems to be one of those " love it or hate it" things.

Some folks claim it kills ticks. I have not found this to be so.

Some folks claim it kills brush. Again, I have not found this to be so. Our major brush plants are buck bushes and wild roses. A grass fire does not last long enough nor is it hot enough to affect either of these.

I have seen them get quickly out of hand and too big to control.

IMO, it's too much risk for the unproven -to me- benefit.

I agree with whomever said "mother nature didn't have a tractor". LOL

A mowing machine will improve pasture like no fire can do.

-- Mona in OK (modoc@ipa.net), February 22, 2002.



Our neighbors here burn. I hate it. The fires get out of control and go over property lines, killing trees that have taken years to establish. They always do it on the first nice, spring day that we have, the perfect sort of a day for going out and working on the garden- if only the smoke wasn't blowing in your face all day long, and if only you didn't have to be on hyper alert against the fire spreading onto your place. And guess what, they never all burn on the same nice spring day. The first nice day gets ruined by one neighbor. Then some rain and yucky weather. The next beautiful day comes along, another neighbor decides to burn, and so on until they have all finished their burning, meanwhile you are burning up because you want to start your garden!!!

It's a very serious problem for people with athsma. A lady here died from it, believe it was last year, and many folks have to stay confined in their homes, on the most beautiful days, until all the burning is over. It's a real drag.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 22, 2002.


Hey Debbie,

Folks burn for any number of human reasons. There are many anecdotes and just-so stories that surround burning grasslands or grassland approximations like pastures and hay meadows.

Burning as done by mother nature tends to be a fairly large environmental disturbance that left to its own devices would probably occur on the average midwestern prairie in the range of once every 11- 13 years although estimates for some regions are as low as 7 years. Burning, natural or otherwise has been accepted as a means for maintaining prairie ecosystems in a number of ways. These fires would be caused by lightening strikes.

First, fire suppresses tree establishment, especially cedar tree establishment (juniperus scopulorum and othe species). Now remember that if the burn takes place only after at least 7 years of grrowth, there will be plenty of fuel to torch most trees. May be burned off to the soil, but often they will resprout from the crown. Second, fire liberates or rapidly oxidizes the celluose and lignin laden remains of plants. So the carbon tied up in the brown grass remains is released into the atmosphere while the minerals fall to the earth as ash. This process has a significant impact on "pulling" more deeply mined minerals to the surface for use by the general plant community. Third, because fire was/is part of the natural system, many members of the ecosystem have evolved adaptive survival and reproductive strategies to cope with and in fact depend upon fire. So, for example many plants drop seeds each year while they do not significantly increase individual numbers until after a burn. In some cases, the burn allows light to stimulate the seed germination, in some cases the heat literally releases the seed from a dormant state or enclosure, and in some cases, the simple clearing of vegetation allows opportunistic species to germinate and flourish at least temporarily. The most majestic of prairie trees is the Cottonwood. This tree can survive the average prairie fire within relatively few years of sprouting. The cottonwood bark is protective.

Fire is useful to control certain undesireable species. For example, you can set some species of grasses or forbes back by timing the burn for when that species is vulnerable. Fire is useful in releasing those minerals to your pasture species. Fire promotes healthy pasture matrix by removing the hard to oxidize dead carbon. Timing of fire can help you promote warm season grasses or cool season grasses if that is what you are managing for. You will also find all of the bottles and cans and lost tools that have ended up in your pastures and meadows through your own carelessness or the poor choices of passers by.

Native people have used fire to manage forests and grasslands for their purposes. Often this was to aid with the hunting of game.

Fire is a basic human fascination and the ritual of fire is culturally significant.

A spring or fall burned prairie or pasture flushes up nice and even and green.

Having said all of that, you can do alot with a mower to keep things decomposing. You can employ fire if you take care to know what you are doing and accept the liability of burning out your neighbors. If you want to burn, you might take a course from your local Nature Conservancy burn crew.

Oscar

-- Oscar H. Will III (owill@mail.whittier.edu), February 22, 2002.


Besides getting rid of many annual weed seeds and other benefits I surely don't know about, fire dethatches perennial grass pastures, something that helps the grass grow thickly. If timed and done right by an experienced and knowledgeable person, it should not smoke anyone out, get out of control or cause wrecks. There is a man in my community who is hired out to do this as he knows the right time and right way to do it. After watching weather forecasts for days, looking at the relative humidity, checking the direction of the breeze (NEVER a "wind", or he wouldn't do it) and looking closely at the lay of the land, he knows exactly where to light the fire so that it will go in the direction he wants it to and in the speed he wants it to. When he thinks a spot is getting too big, he keeps it in control with a hand-held sprayer containing water and dish soap. He also plans it beforehand with extreme care so that already-burned places guide the flames exactly where he wants them to be. It's a sight to see. You know he was the "fire master" of a field burn when you drive by ~ the outside lines of the burn are within a foot of the fencelines.

-- Wingnut (wingnut@moment.net), February 22, 2002.

I have helped put up hay in fields where the lush growth of fall, which gets compacted by snow, was so thick it repeatedly clogged the bailer and broke the ---- pin. The dead grass is not nutritious and resulted in more mould inside the bales, which could not be fed to the horses. If we could have burned off that dead grass, haying would have ben a lot easier for better quality, but the spring weather was unusually dry and windy.

When I was a child our neighbourhood was a new suburb surrounded by farm land. Across from our house was a 3 acre field which was burned off every spring as a safety control, it would reduce the risk of vandals creating an out of control fire

-- Deborah Hardy (virgil@igs.net), February 23, 2002.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ