Our grazing operation runs on about 220 acres, about half of which is leased. We were especially fortunate when our neighbor thinned down his cowherd a few years ago, as this enabled us to lease grass right across the road from our primary 100 acre pasture. This leased parcel had not been burned for quite some time, so a few weeks ago Bill, myself and daughter Mattie went up and lit off the woody portion. The reason for this is to damage/kill the woody plants, especially cedar trees and buckbrush, both of which are highly invasive and difficult to kill once established. By shading the soil, they effectively eliminate a lot of grass, and will eventually overtake native grasslands. Not good!

Sorry to say it was such a last minute event that I forgot to take the camera for photos during the burn, but here is the after effect. We will burn the other pastures in about another month, and I will make an effort to snap a few shots then. This part needed burned earlier because it has a lot of cool season grasses that green up early, and once they've greened up, a fire usually is not successful at crisping the trees and brush!