# Pasture Management Controlled Burning



## GeneRector (Jun 4, 2008)

Howdy! I have a Coastal Bermuda hay meadow and have burned the pasture a few times over the last 10 years during the Winter. We usually notify the fire station two miles up the road from us to be on standy; however, we disk the pasture edges for a firebreak to prevent spreading the fire. How often do you burn your pastures and any other techniques you may use? Thanks! All replies welcomed! Always, Gene


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## Heyhay..eh (Aug 7, 2009)

I don't burn but only because of the high risk factor in my area. Too much bush and too many homes around the immediate area.

From some of the information that is resurfacing burning is a good way to introduce biochar and enrich the soil. I don't have a lot of info on biochar just know that some folks are getting into it in a big way and I did some for a small garden. Seemed to work fine.

Take care


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## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm (Feb 11, 2009)

I used to burn here in NW Iowa, mainly to stunt the cool season grasses on a field to bring up the native warm season prairie grass which allowed for a later grazing window than the cool season grasses in other paddocks, or to meet my wildlife requirements. Now we graze hard and early on our prairie areas instead of using fire. My planning has changed to mob grazing anything that I was going to burn. I've found it's easier to use poly wire to hold cattle in than it is to try to keep the fire contained. I did burn a couple dozen acres of my neighbor's CRP without his permission a few years back. Very humbling and makes mob grazing as a management tool look like an even better management tool when you add in the labor of hand planting trees back into my neighbor's CRP where I ran the disk to put _my_ fire out...


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

My grandfather in South Texas used to burn everything.....fields, his yard, mesquite stumps....But it was always green and lush. When we bought and cleared this place part of it was infested with wild rose. Burning was the only way to get rid of those horrible things. My neighbor burned one of his fields last year because it was overgrown, but you really don't see many burns around here. I try to keep all of mine productive with herbicides, lime and fertilizer. It's all baled so it never gets overgrown.

Because of my grandfather, I'm sure that there is something to the value of biochar, but with my luck as soon as I struck a match I'd be assaulted by tree-huggers and the Texas Air Quality Board.


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## OkhayBallr (Dec 18, 2009)

Let er Burn!!!! I just got done burning 180 acres of pasture, I disced 4 rounds around the outside, it was rolling on when it hit the edge, I thought I was in trouble but it stopped at disced spot!! whew!!


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