Dennis can give his own reasons for the burn, but in many cases, if one burns off the old grass, the new growth comes in better, both for ground cover and for nutrients.
It had been flooded for a couple of summers and had grown johnson grass and other weeds into a tangled mess with some small trees starting to grow. I eliminated the overgrowth and as a side effect killed the small trees. I've been in there with my spray rig recently to kill the new growth johnson grass which is a rhizome and grows from the root. If you don't kill the root and just use tillage equipment it will double the growth or worse and make the land unusable. Since I'm planning to put it back into production, it was time to burn then spray. Controlled burns in other areas are of great benefit to wildlife as well. Young birds like Quail, Turkey, etc can forage for insects in the new growth that is coming up, where thick grass makes it difficult for them. I have another place that is strictly for hunting that gets 1/4 of it burned every year in February or March. It keeps the woody brush in control, eliminates the understory that has no benefit for wildlife and provides new growth of beneficial plants.
The snakes were strong this weekend, pulled a 3 footer out of the chickens nest box, Friday evening Saturday pulled a 4 footer out and then found a dead meat chick, today found another dead meat chick and the bandit who did it a 6 foot plus rat snake.. Earlier today I was on the tractor and came upon these 2 bull snakes having sex in my path.. Nabbing 2 in 1 clip had to have a photo..
I know this is meant for farm use, but there's endless redneck jokes to be had! I pulled up beside this guy Friday evening headed south out of Newcastle towards highway 9. When your regular flatbed just won't cut it! The best part was the 2 ton quad cab flatbed pulling it that was beat all to hell, with an engine knock. Definitely a well used work truck, but it was a sight to see!
