Patch-Burn Grazing Effects on Cattle Performance: Research Conducted in a Working Landscape

Abstract

On the Ground • Patch-burn grazing is a range management strategy that might be able to simultaneously optimize livestock production objectives and wildlife habitat objectives. • We compared patch-burn grazing to a traditional range management strategy in multiple pastures, representing a variety of land ownership and management histories, dispersed across a relatively large geographic area. Our results likely represent what land managers could expect if they adopted patch-burn grazing in similar situations. • We found that cattle performance in pastures managed with patch-burn grazing did not differ from that found in pastures managed with a traditional range management strategy. This suggests that land managers who adopt patch-burn grazing in our study region might be able to maintain levels of cattle performance they are accustomed to. Simultaneously, they might also be able to achieve wildlife habitat objectives that might not have been possible with the application of traditional range management strategies. • More research and trials of patch-burn grazing in other regions and vegetation types will further help land mangers determine if patch-burn grazing is a range management strategy that could be useful when applied to their unique circumstances.