Natural Resources RANCHING
Goodwin doesn’t like them because, he says, “I don’t like having fuel in my fi reguard, green or not.” The fi reguard stands in contrast to the burn unit
itself, which contains the dry and desiccated plants of last year. “You would want to shred around the inside of the fi reguard,” he says, “giving a little bit of a break in fuel, and then we can work off of that green line be- cause the green material is not going to burn, so when it gets there it’s going to go out.” It also, obviously, has to be established well in advance.
Does prescribed fi re lead to erosion? For the most part, Goodwin says prescribed fi res
do not contribute to erosion — in fact, he says, “In my 16 years of burning, I have never seen a gully formed or any kind of erosive response because we burned a pasture.” That’s because recovery is rapid — the tops of the
plants are gone but the roots remain in the ground, and at most times of the year the pasture is green again within a couple of weeks. “It’s not fully grown back, but it’s grown back to the point where we’re not going to have any issues with overland fl ow or sheet erosion,” he says.
All of the major resource areas in
Texas evolved under some sort of a fi re regime.
If you burn in December, of course, the window
for green-up is somewhat longer. “Basically, the re- sponse revolves around soil moisture before and after the burn. Having adequate soil moisture before the burn will generally ensure adequate forage response depending on the timing of the burn,” Goodwin says. “Post-burn moisture is just as important to recovery times, especially when burning during the growing season.” Which makes the task that much more dif- fi cult for Frank Price. “It’s just really hard to get done on a regular basis,” says the Sterling City rancher. “We’ve tried to burn 4 pastures in a year in different
grazing units — I tried for 6 one year — but 3 is the most we ever got burned. Everybody talks about how successful the burns are, and how you ought to get into a regular burning cycle on all the rangeland.
LEXINGTON Livestock Commission
Call Gillespie Livestock for all your
livestock needs.
We all look forward to serving you, from the men outside to the ladies in the offi ce.
Sheep & Goats on Tuesday Cattle on Wednesday
Wayne or Shaun Geistweidt at 830-889-4394 or 830-998-4233.
GILLESPIE LIVESTOCK COMPANY 621 Longhorn St. | P.O. Box 454 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 830-997-4394 | Fax 830-997-5804
50 The Cattleman July 2016
Sale Every Saturday 12:00 Noon
Lexington, Texas 78947 Russell Heller: 979-773-4738 Steven Heller: 512-446-6895
979-773-2244 or 979-773-2922 Fax: 979-773-4798
P.O. Box 186
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