Prescribed burning, also known as controlled burning, is for lack of a better term just a fire that you have set intentionally. Despite the fact that the word “fire” often brings up negative images of nothing but destruction a prescribed burn can be a good thing. It is a management tool that is used by land managers and land owners to improve the diversity of their vegetation. It can also be used to control any invasive plants that are present in your pasture.
When used along with other management methods prescribed burning can be used to improve the overall health of your pasture. Getting the most out of doing this takes more than just simply setting some fires. To ensure the safety of both you and your neighbors it requires some serious planning.
Why use prescribed burning?
Fire is a very important ecological force that has influenced the natural history of North America. It has been a way for nature to control any non-native species. However as populations have grown fire has become to be viewed as destructive to both people and property. Because of this view fire suppression has became the norm. Though really in some cases it has only increased the problem.
The problem with this mentality is that as we prevented fires our forests and rangelands have started being overgrown with thick underbrush. This overgrowth provides fuel that can cause an out of control fire to spring up.
Benefits of prescribed burning
- Stop growth of undesirable/invasive plants
- Promotes regrowth of warm and cool season grasses
- Replenish soil nutrients
- Improve habitat for wildlife
- Aid in prevention of dangerous wildfires
- Increase diversity
While prescribed burning does has it’s benefits there are also some risks or concerns. These should also be addressed in order to get a full picture.
Disadvantages of prescribed burning
- Possibility of getting out of control
- Can cause visibility issues for drivers
- To do this properly will require nearly a dozen highly trained people
Considerations before you burn
As I mentioned earlier doing a prescribed burn requires more than just lighting some fires and hoping for the best outcome. It requires extensive planning and preparation in order to be done correctly. So before you go all pyromaniac here are some things to consider.
Have a grazing plan in place
Having a solid grazing rotation plan in place is a very important first step in developing a burn plan. You should consider what you will do with the cattle before, during, and after a pasture is burned. If you are interested in learning more about rotational grazing I covered it in a previous article “Is rotational grazing for you?”.
You should look at if you will have enough forages for the livestock both before and after the burn. To have adequate fuel you should remove livestock for a growing season before you plan on setting the fire. And after the burn you will need to wait till mid-growing season after in order to have enough for the livestock to eat.
Do you have enough to burn?
You should determine the fuel requirements for your desired burn results. A tricky part on this is that it is possible to have too much brush in the pasture that you are wanting to burn. If things are to thick and packed in then the fire will not be able to get in there to all of the plants. What you can do in this situation is to go in there and clear out some of the brush in order to “open up” some of the areas so the fire can get a total kill or you will have to plan on more than one fire to get what you want.
Do you have the right equipment?
When developing your fire plan you will need to decide what equipment will be needed. If you are not sure what all you will need your local extension office is a great resource for that kind of information.
You should take an inventory to see if you already have the equipment on hand or if you will need to buy or rent them. I recommend that if you are going to rent the equipment that you schedule it with the equipment place a little bit before you need it in order to prevent it from being unavailable when you need it. Some equipment that you may need are things like dozers and spray trucks.
Do you have enough people for the job?
It is important that you have enough people to the job. The number of people that you will need depends on the size of the fire that you are planning to have. You want just enough people to be able to keep an eye on things but not too many people that they could get in the way or possibly get hurt.
During the planning phase one person should be designated the “fire boss”. This person will have command of the crew and will make the job assignments. This person should be the one with the license to do prescribed burning and have plenty of experience in what they are doing.
Do you and your crew have proper training?
This step is very important to keep everyone safe. Also to make sure that the fire does not easily get out of hand. I highly recommend that this step is not skipped AT ALL. If you are wanting to do this yourself your local extension office does offer prescribed burning classes so your can get certified, though even still would be a good idea to have someone with more experience to help you. If this seems a little daunting you can always hire a licensed professional to do the job for you. The benefit to doing that is they will have insurance in case anything were to happen.
Have you contacted the proper authorities?
Several agencies should be notified of any burns that may happen. This is just common sense so it won’t cause a panic when people see the smoke. Your local police, fire departments, neighbor, and anyone with equipment or interests in the area being burned should be notified.
Do you have a fire plan in place?
The fire plan is a systematic and highly methodical plan for the burn. When you develop and follow a well constructed plan the risk of the fire turning into an out of control wildfire is greatly reduced.
When developing a fire plan there are many things that you should look at. Fuel characteristics, topography, climate conditions. Plans must also be made for any undesirable plant changes, drought and erosion possibilities. The wind speed and direction, relative humidity, air temperature are included. Season and time of day all affect the fire’s behavior and ease of control.
As I mentioned earlier, a couple of times, your local county extension office is a great resource for information about developing a prescribed burning plan. The Texas AgriLife extension service has an online library on this subject and it can be found by clicking here.
