CRP Burn

It’s been a few years since we burned off our 14 acres that is in the CRP. We started out Saturday morning mowing off our fire breaks and waiting for the frost to go away. We burned about 8 acres on Saturday and decided it was time for some refreshments. The winds were really picking up anyway and all of us were a little beat. Sunday morning we finished off the rest of the acres and had it all wrapped up by 3:30. No birds had started laying yet, as no nests were found when we finished up. FYI, if you burn your land and do find a nest, you NEED to throw them eggs as far as you can and destroy the nest. Hens will still lay on that nest and expose themselves to predators even after the eggs are cooked. I brought my son down for the first time this year too, I think he liked it, but didn’t like all the smoke. In two or three weeks, it will be the greenest grass land in the section.

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a good burn is a LOT of work, but well worth the effort when it’s done. You are right, that will be some great green graze land in a couple weeks!

sticker wrote:

a good burn is a LOT of work, but well worth the effort when it’s done. You are right, that will be some great green graze land in a couple weeks!

When we first started burning it off (about 10 years ago) it was nothing more than a glorified pasture. We burned it every year for the first 4/5 year until the forestry guys came through and told us we were good and gave us A+ rating. I am no expert on Wildland but I have been doing with our fire department for almost 20 years now. Every piece of land is different and one thing is for sure, you need to keep your head on straight, every time that wind changes direction you may be in for an exciting 30-40 minutes.

I am blown away with how many ant mounds we have in our set aside. I know they can be a good thing, but how many is too many?? If each ant hill has 2,000 ants, just a guess, then we have as azz load of ants in that 14 acres.

Pardon the ignorance but why do you do this?

Jonesy wrote:

Pardon the ignorance but why do you do this?

Usually to get regeneration of native plants, it’s a reset button for overgrown pasture basically.

I have a 320 acre patch that I would like to burn, I was quoted 18.00 a acre from the professionals to burn, I am not willing to take the risk of doing it myself.
Did your burn require a burn plan?

Sticker is right on, basically it can take up to 4 or 5 burns to kill off some of the more hearty evasive plants. Burdock, parsnip, buck thorn all have a great root system and may re-seed even after a burn. Like said above, it really helps regenerate the growth of the prairie grasses and native wild flowers. Everything comes in taller and thicker and produces great habitat.

huskerdu wrote:

I have a 320 acre patch that I would like to burn, I was quoted 18.00 a acre from the professionals to burn, I am not willing to take the risk of doing it myself.
Did your burn require a burn plan?

I developed my own plan, but it was based off of past experiences and weather conditions for our 14 acre area. I have done burns with my fire department as large as 30 acres and many things come into play. 320 acres is a large undertaking and will/should need a lot of man power and staging to ensure it is done correctly. Terrain, exposures (trees, building, roads, even fence lines) coordination with DNR/Local Fire Wardens all need to be taken into account. Then paired with current and predicted weather conditions, all play a part in the burn. I honestly think that is a great price for the size of the burn.

A burn will also remove thatch. This can be important for nesting birds/chicks.