Prairie fires and why we burn the grass

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - With spring well on its way and summer not far behind, grass and prairie fires are becoming a common sight on the horizon. Have ever wondered why these fires occur? Here's a brief explanation of the origin of prairie fires and why farmers and ranchers burn the grass.

Native Americans routinely burned the prairie to entice bison, who were attracted to the fresh grass sprouting up from scorched hills and Mother Nature also burns the prairies through lightning strikes and wildfires. As a result, a lush but delicate ecosystem of grass emerges, becoming dependent on fire to sustain a treeless ecosystem.

Farmers burn their fields to remove plants that are already growing and to help the plants that are about to come up. These burns are often called “prescribed burns” because they are used to improve the health of the field.

 Due to its rocky soil, the early settlers were unable to plow the Flint Hills resulting in the prevalence of cattle ranches as opposed to the cropland more typical of the Great Plains. These ranches rely on annual controlled burns conducted by ranchers every spring to renew the prairie grasses for cattle to graze. 

The Flint Hills are home to over 275,000 head of cattle that are owned and cared for by local ranchers. The Flint Hills rangeland is burned during the spring to provide better forage for these cattle. Burning also helps minimize the risk of wildfires. 

 Burning also reduces the fuel load in millions of acres of grassland. This helps reduce the risk of destructive, and potentially deadly wildfires by reducing the fuel load of dried-up grass, fire also removes old thatch that can slow or stunt the growth of native grasses.