Recent wildfires in north Texas and southern Oklahoma have added insult to injury for producers who are already experiencing the worst drought in decades. The combination of dry air, soil and grass resulted in very intense fire conditions. If you were affected by these wildfires, the first thing to do is make a site evaluation.

If the following conditions apply to your situation, your forage resources likely will recover to close to pre-burn conditions (assuming spring rain): the upper few inches of soil are the original color, there is partially burned plant residue within the pasture and the ash after the burn is dark. However, if you are experiencing the conditions following this statement, you will likely have a large percentage of dead plants: the upper few inches of soil is discolored, all the plant residue is burned and the ash following the burn is light colored. Unfortunately, these conditions also put you at more risk for erosion, less moisture infiltration and higher evaporation.

Those of you who have the latter situation have some serious decisions to make. First, if you cannot replace the lost forage through grass leases or other means, you need to work with a livestock specialist to develop and implement a livestock culling protocol. Second, if you were counting on cost-share assistance through government programs, the sign-up deadline for the EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) rankings for 2006 in Oklahoma was Dec. 31, 2005. The deadline in Texas is Feb. 17, 2006. Many of you may have already missed an opportunity for cost-share assistance for this year in Oklahoma. If you are in Texas and were considering sprigging bermudagrass but wanted to wait to see what moisture conditions will bring, you will need to make this decision early in February. As of this writing, Texas NRCS is considering a cost-share payment of up to $10 per acre for a deferred grazing period in counties affected by wildfires. Contact your local NRCS office for more information. If you had part of a pasture that burned while another part did not, be ready for heavy livestock preference on the burned areas. Grazing distribution issues such as this can be very problematic in the long term if the overgrazing occurs on native grasses that have already endured drought, fire and then early season overgrazing. Consider temporary fencing and/or conservative early-season grazing on these areas. If you are intent on planting new forages this year, concentrate your efforts on the best land you have (i.e., not overly rocky, thin or sandy soils).

Also, be prepared to implement a weed management program. After fires on overgrazed bermudagrass, two of the most prevalent weeds are buffalobur and sandbur. If you experience these weeds next growing season, call the Noble Foundation’s Agricultural Division for weed management options. Unless we get good spring moisture and cool-season grasses, most people should plan to feed hay for a minimum of one to two months into the growing season to avoid more damage to forages. Wait to begin grazing bermudagrass pasture until there is at least 4 inches of new growth (6 to 10 new leaves) on 75 percent of the pasture. Graze cool-season grasses on rangeland and defer grazing when cattle begin to graze warm-season regrowth (this may take some plant identification skills). On some rangeland, grazing deferment should last until late summer moisture. In other cases, a full growing season without grazing may be warranted.

Matt Mattox
Forage Specialist