Fire Season and Grazing

There is no denying that the 2024 fire season has been unique, for lack of a better term.  The above average temps coupled with the below average rainfall have created the perfect environment for an intense fire season.  And while there have been other years of hot, dry and fiery conditions, very few fire seasons have ever extended into October.  

The thermometer in my yard has yet to record the first hard frost of fall, and truthfully, I’m not complaining.  But the extended hot weather and in turn extended fire season has made 2024 one of the worst fire seasons in the recent decades.  As of October 14, nearly a half a million total acres have burned in Idaho, a significant number of acres burning outside the normal fire season.

With so much forest and rangeland affected by the devastation of wildfires, it will take some time for those lands to return to their previous state.  Previous management practices have dictated that public rangelands be left untouched for years following a fire, fearing that any disturbances to the vegetation regrowth will slow or be restricted.

Because of this, cattle have been fenced off or not been allowed to turn out on BLM or Forest Service rangelands that have been overwhelmed by fire.  Past experience and research has indicated that livestock find forages on burned rangelands more palatable, preferring them to feed on non-burned ground.  The thought has always been that their preferential grazing on post-fire lands will hamper the establishment of emerging growth.  But new findings are flipping the script, saying that the wait is unnecessary.

Recently, scientists of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho have found that grazing on regrowth following a fire has little to do with the plant’s vigor and productivity post-fire.  In fact, native rangeland grasses have been found to survive wildfires as the plant’s roots suffer very little from the fires as it is protected by the soil.  In many ways, the plant will begin growing again the next season as if the fire had never happened.

This continued study on rangeland health post-fire has lent to the question, if cattle are no longer a hazard to the reemerging forages, can cattle in turn help rangelands recover from wildfires?  Aside from not being damaging to the vigor and productivity of the plants, grazing livestock may actually play an important part establishing plant diversity as well as reducing invasive plant growth following a fire.

Left unmanaged or ungrazed, invasive grasses like cheatgrass quickly begin to take over, even after devastating wildfires.  In the early growing season while the grasses are still young and green, cattle will eat down the invasive plants, hampering their growth and spread.  Years of no foraging will only allow the antagonistic plants to spread and increase further fuel for future fires.  

In addition to reducing invasive plant growth, cattle’s non-uniform grazing habits help reduce the competition for new plants to begin growing.  Their foraging will leave patchy, open areas allowing diverse micro environments for different plant species to grow.  What’s more is that cattle can add to the soil nutrition with their manure as well as spreading seeds that will pass through the gut.        

The “cattle are bad for rangelands” sentiments and opinions have outweighed the contrary knowledge and experience of producers for far too long.  Research and study are finally catching up to the common sense farmers and ranchers have been using to keep their lands thriving for decades.  Managed correctly, cattle grazing will always be beneficial for the rangelands whether it is preventing wildfires or helping restore the land post-fire.