A 6-yr evaluation of prescribed-fire timing on yearling cattle growth performance and plant community dynamics on native tallgrass prairie in the Kansas Flint Hills.

ABSTRACT: A 6-yr experiment was conducted to determine the effects of prescribed-fire season on stocker cattle growth performance and rangeland plant community characteristics in the Kansas Flint Hills. Eighteen pastures were grouped by watershed and each watershed was randomly assigned to 1 of 3 prescribed-fire treatments: spring (11 April ± 5.7 d), summer (25 August ± 6.2 d), or autumn (2 October ± 9.0 d). All burns were applied prior to grazing in years 1, 2, 3, and 5; however, no burns were applied in year 4 because of unfavorable burn conditions. Over 5 consecutive grazing seasons, 1,939 yearling stocker calves (initial BW = 281 ± 58.9 kg) were grazed from May to August at a targeted stocking density of 280 kg live-weight + ha^-1. Beginning in June of 2018 (pretreatment), a permanent

SUBMITTER: Duncan ZM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10699836 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature