Dry Times Might be Proper Time for Grassland Health Review

by Roger W. Tacha, Resource Conservationist
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Colby, Kansas

OK, it DID rain some (finally!!) in most of northwest Kansas this spring and summer. Unlike the last four to five years, the GREEN in the grass almost hurts your eyes. Amazing!!

The warm-season grasses that are predominant on our range certainly are resilient. They appeared to be dead prior to this summer--but, nope, they ARE alive!! I didn't say totally healthy--I said "alive." These plants readily responded to moisture, but good recovery in our short and mid-grass country doesn't happen that quickly.

Blade widths of the grasses are not what they should be. Even though clipping/weighing projects that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is conducting in all counties are showing fairly good total production, it is primarily due to the grass plant’s explosion of many fine-bladed leaves and seed stalks. This could be the plant's response to four to five year’s drought suppression.

Another factor we CANNOT easily see is the root system beneath these plants. They would normally be several feet deep. However, after this drought, these structures have weakened—they are less dense and probably about half as long as they could be.

It will take at least THREE things to get the rangeland healthy: Moisture - Rest - Time

• MOISTURE: Yes, probably a no-brainer. If/when it rains, grass grows.
• REST: This is a big one because people can control it. It's a direct management function. The range grasses in our part of the world can remain healthy with grazing. In fact they SHOULD be grazed. It's part of how they evolved.
  
  However, they need at the very minimum, 30 percent rest during the growing season. Sixty to eighty percent is even more appropriate. It's all how the grass plants evolved and responded to grazing by early herbivores.
  
  The rest is simply "reprieve from being bitten" more than once. And it can only happen if grazing animals are ABSENT after the initial grazing occurs--they are removed--possibly sold, lotted, or rotated to other pastures.
  
  Even if stocking rates are severely reduced, individual animals will likely eat (bite) the same individual plants over and over. Thus, the plant doesn't get the rest required to recover and build root reserves. Instead, it’s using up root reserves just to maintain and survive.
• TIME:
  Time is another factor to recognize and accept but cannot be controlled. The short- and mid-grass country simply doesn't get the 30-40 inches of annual moisture to recover from drought or severe grazing pressure in a year or two. In this 15-25 inch moisture zone, it could take many years to heal--maybe 10-15.

So, with the elements of moisture and time, we put up with them. But the rest/management factor is a TOOL that should be used to every advantage--not JUST in dry times, but ALL the time. It is relatively easy to apply to almost any grazing scenario.

For more information about grasslands, go to your local U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Service Center and talk to the NRCS or conservation district staff.

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

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Last Modified: 08/20/2008