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

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 100-m transect was established in each pasture and was used to determine plant-species composition using a modified step-point method. Forage biomass accumulation and root carbohydrate concentrations of 4 native tallgrass plant species were also measured. All data were analyzed as a completely randomized design using a mixed model. Average daily gain (ADG) was 0.05 to 0.07 kg greater (P = 0.02) for calves grazing spring-burned pastures compared with calves grazing summer- or autumn-burned pastures; however, ADG did not differ (P >= 0.55) between calves assigned to the summer or autumn prescribed-fire treatments. Basal cover of all graminoids and all forbs did not differ (P >= 0.30) among prescribed-fire treatments; however, basal cover of C3 grasses tended (P = 0.06) to be greater while basal cover of C4 grasses tended (P = 0.08) to be less in autumn-burned pastures compared with spring-burned pastures. Forage biomass accumulation did not differ (P = 0.58) among treatments. In addition, root starch or root water-soluble carbohydrate concentrations in big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), or purple prairieclover (Dalea purpurea) did not differ (P >= 0.26) among prescribed-fire treatments. Overall, we interpreted these data to suggest that prescribed-fire timing had small influences on yearling stocker cattle growth performance and rangeland plant composition but did not influence forage biomass accumulation or root carbohydrate concentrations of key native tallgrass plant species in the Kansas Flint Hills. A 6-yr experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of unconventional applications of prescribed fire on growth performance of grazing yearling beef cattle and plant community composition in native tallgrass prairie. We present evidence that summer-season prescribed fire allowed similar final body weights for grazing yearling cattle and produced positive to neutral effects on native plant populations compared to conventional spring-season prescribed fire. Cost-effective, comprehensive, and enduring solutions for noxious weed control on native range have been difficult to identify. recently compared conventional spring prescribed fire with prescribed fire conducted in late summer for noxious weed control in tallgrass prairie. They reported that routine use of summer prescribed fire produced improved control of sericea lespedeza (a non-native forb) and woody-stemmed plant species with positive effects on native forb diversity compared with spring prescribed fire. Similarly, indicated that a single, summer-season prescribed fire conducted on two mixed-grass prairie sites in central Texas provided control of yellow bluestem 3 yr post-treatment. Land managers, while welcoming the potential benefits of summer prescribed fire, have expressed concern that the substantial growth-performance advantage documented for grazing cattle (approximate to 14 kg of bodyweight) following application of spring-season prescribed fire would be lost if prescribed fire application was moved to late summer. Our 6-yr evaluation of plant community dynamics and growth rate of yearling beef steers grazing native, tallgrass prairie provided evidence that summer-season prescribed fire resulted in positive to neutral effects on native plant populations and equivalent final body weights for grazing yearling cattle compared to spring-season prescribed fire.