Air February 14, 2001

Thank you Mark, and good morning everyone. As per my request, Mother Nature gave us an extra dose of February precipitation late last week. While that was good for the wheat, pastures and crops yet to be planted, it was really the last thing that most cattlemen wanted to see. But we take what is dealt to us and move on. I do want everyone to think back to about the middle of November when I was encouraging everyone to be prepared just in case we had a winter like that. Like I said at the time, it might not happen, but if I keep saying it, this may be the winter I’ll be right.

With this last round of wet weather I think most pasture owners and managers are feeling a little bit better about the potential production. At least we know we’ll get some early season growth, and it even looks like we might get a little water back into some of these ponds. Okay, do we burn pastures this spring? I would say yes, IF you have enough fuel to carry a fire. If you don’t have the fuel, don’t waste your time and frustrate yourself. Remember though, that we need to wait until the end of April to burn. This early to mid April burning is causing a lot of problems that you may be trying to blame on any number of other things. If you have little or no standing fuel out in your pastures, just be prepared for more weeds than normal this year. The weed seed is always there, but with heavier cover, it seldom gets to sprout and grow. With an open canopy, and now some moisture we will have annual grasses and weeds. Herbicides are only a partial option. They give you a little bit of an edge for one year, but they are really just a Band-Aid approach, not a cure. A better approach is to manage the grass to make sure that you have a proper amount of cover left at the end of the season. Then the annual bromes and the summer weeds won’t have as much chance to get started and compete. You can then burn in the spring, because you have the fuel, to help control invading brush. I have long said that weeds and even brush in a pasture are not a problem. They are a symptom of a larger management problem. Overstocking and early burning of pastures are the two biggest problems that we need to deal with in our Flint Hills tall grass prairies.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2001.

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