# Burning pastures.. pros/cons?



## Blaze 57 (Feb 22, 2011)

There is about 8 acres of brome I could cut for hay but the problem is a layer of heavy dead thatch that I think is keeping from new growth from coming through thus thicking the stand. Impossible to harrow because the dry dead grass layer just plugs up the harrow in about 10 ft and they it just skips over doing nothing. What should I do to restore this field with a heavy dead thatch layer? I'm looking at next spring to work on it. Doing a soil test soon too. Thanks


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Blaze, I frequently burn off the plant residue off tracts of ground that I am going to re-sow. I usually kill it off with glyphosate, wait a couple of 2-3 weeks then till a 6 foot border around the perimeter of the field with my tractor tiller, then burn it when I have a light wind. Makes for a super clean replant with the added nutrients of the burn.

Regards, Mike


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## Nitram (Apr 2, 2011)

I love to burn! I use a 2-3 yr rotation with my cows per pasture. On the yrs I cut I burn. I perfer as close to 20 mph wind as possible, this allows the thatch to burn while limiting the damage to the root system. Its hell on fences tho. if that it a concern? If its brome grass burn as early as possible and a overseeding wouldn't be a bad idea. Not familar with the no till methods but that sounds like a viable option. All of my land and rented is in praire hay which is hardier than brome (tall and short bluestem). If your not wanting to kill off then you will need to back burn the down wind side. Around here I seldom see a brome field burned. Another option would be to winter some cows on it if you have fence around or could eletric wire it, be sure to supplement with liquid protein. You'd be surprised how much old grass they clean up. Hope this helps. Martin


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## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm (Feb 11, 2009)

I've found that brome that is cut on-time (here it's about now) and only once a year to let it regrow for next year will die back in the winter with a decent amount of thatch. But if you don't allow the regrowth on brome before frost it will be an even poorer performer the following year. I've burned-off brome and it doesn't hurt it but I've only done it in the spring when the grass was just starting to green. I've also cut heavily thatched brome that hadn't been hayed in years. I use a rotary/disk mower that I can cut right down near the dirt and it goes through the thatch while cutting. The thatch rakes up with the hay. Not great quality hay but depending on the timing of the cutting you wont have an unusually thick thatch issue next year.


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## Blaze 57 (Feb 22, 2011)

Thanks for the replies!... my neigbor cut hay off it every year befire I bought it then it sat for the last few year building thatch. It actually still has alot of timothy-orchard grass but like my neighbor said the brome is over taking more of that every year. I'm going to cut and bale it this year and probably in a few years the thatch will be gone. I did have cows on it and around the water tank-shelter area the thatch is gone and the grass much thicker and taller where they grazed more. If it still heavy I'll burn next spring. Some parts are pure orchard grass but my neighbor said it all used to be timothy orchard grass at one time. Brome is really aggressive here. Especially in this sub-irrigated area I'm talking about.


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