We are buying a piece of property to turn into pasture that is thick with juniper bushes and brambles. Our local fire department is always looking for practice and my friend on it suggested we do a controlled burn to clear the lot. Our plans were to get a root grapple and rip up the junipers and move the horses onto a small pasture this spring, adding pasture each month as we clear more. If we go this route, and have the whole lot burned, how long before I can put the horses on it? They are FAT so not having a lot to graze isn’t a problem. We’ll be haying twice daily no matter what. I’m just thinking safety wise and not to ruin it for the future, can they go on it within a few weeks to a month of a burn? Thanks for any input! Never done a burn before and I’m totally clueless.
It might be of help to consult your county agent discuss your plans and ask when you last frost date is and how burning will affect the native grasses.
Spring grass is usually ready to be grazed 4-6 weeks after the last frost. Burning prior to the last frost may encourage grass seeds, or rhizomes to germinate and then be killed by frost if you get the timing wrong.
Be aware spring grass can be very high in sugar and cause serious illness in horses if they eat too much.
Fire also encourages some noxious weeds to germinate but kills others. Again timing is key.
I’d contact your Extension office and asked them about the project. Your Soil Conservation office might also be helpful.
The short answer to your question is “it depends.” No matter what you do you’re looking at 4-6 weeks at a bare minimum. You need to select you type of grass (tall fescue and KY Bluegrass are suitable per UW). You’d need to soil test the land to see what it’s condition is and fertilize and/or lime as required. Some grasses grow faster than others. In the spring, when pretty much everything grows vigorously, this difference might be minimal. And it depends on how much sun and rain you get. Too much or too little of either is a negative for building turf. It takes time to build turf. You can’t make it go faster. You’ve likely got two alternatives.
First, the correct way would be to clear, seed, fertilize, and lime IAW your soil test for your preferred grass. Then set aside a dry lot and plan to feed hay until after the fall growing season. Keep the grazing light after the fall season and move the horses to a dry lot before they overgraze the pasture. Keep them off until the spring grass if firmly established. Once the stand has three seasons (two spring and one fall) you should be OK.
Second, do your clearing, seeding, etc. everywhere but a dry lot area. Find out from Extension what the absolute fastest growing and toughest turf grass there is that will thrive in your area. Put that down and turn the horses out as soon as you reasonably can. Plan to rehab the pasture in the fall. That will mean using RoundUp on your field to kill off whatever grass you used and replanting with fescue or bluegrass or whatever other forage Extension might suggest. You will have to set up a “sacrifice” section and feed hay there during the winter. Come spring you will likely be able to turn out your stock without much problem.
You will always have to be careful of overgrazing and should have a plan for rotating your pasture. Just how you do this will depend on weather and, most especially, stock loading. You don’t say how many head you’ll be running or how big the piece is.
Extension can give you very precise information. It’s free; use them.
Good luck in your program.
G.
Juniper is poisonous to horses. I would want to do more than burn it. I would dig up and dispose of every piece I could find and then I’m sure I would still worry.
I’ve never heard of juniper being toxic. Yew is definitely toxic, as is oleander.
I’ve found it on at least one list of equine toxic plants. On the other hand the same list also said tall fescue and perennial rye-grass were, also.
There are LOTS of things in the world that are equine toxic. As a general rule if there are palatable plants available horses will not mess with toxic ones.
G.
I’ve been burning each winter since we moved to this large farm, ten years ago. I love burning, clearing the land and making it beautiful. I build the piles during the year, and burn when there is snow on the ground, either fall or early spring. I would suggest that you cut and pile the detritus that you are wanting to get rid of, rather than burning it in place. This makes it easier to control the burning, and limits the amount of burned land to the size of the piles. I choose a spot to make a pile where there is already some crap, often something large, a stump or some logs, then add to it with what I can cut and drag to make the pile larger. The tighter you can get the pile, the better and more complete the burn. My piles of sticks get large, the size of a vehicle or bus. Ignite with a tiger torch. I usually light half a dozen piles at a time, let them burn down, then restack anything that has been sticking out of the burn, ends of branches etc, tossing it back into the embers to re ignite it. This gives you a nice, concise and clear burned spot, with no straggling crap left over. First grazing season, the spot will be blackened, and may grow some weeds. But by the next growing season, grass starts to take over again. Burning releases the nutrients in the wood/branches, so the area tends to grow grass well in the long run due to those released nutrients in the soil.
I have cleared many acres of impassable bush this way. It is very rewarding to do this work IMO. I have made pasture out of what was previously wasted and useless land. I have a few older retired horses, and crippled pets, who help with this project during the summer months. “Land clearing” gives them an economic purpose other than just being pets. Between them going into the area, eating down what is edible, pooping, making paths, and my making the burn piles, and eliminating the detritus, we work together to open up, clear and improve the land.
You will get better at using a chain saw, hand nippers, and the tiger torch. It’s great exercise! Enjoy! Check your local rules re burning, burn restrictions may be in place during summer months. Winter is the time to burn. Just right is when snow is on the ground, but has melted off the piles, and no wind.
NancyM just gave you good advice. Around here if I want to burn I have to get a permit from the State during summer months. In winter I don’t. Our local volunteer fire department will come out with a small pumper truck for a couple of hours for a fee of $50. That’s cheap insurance against afire getting out of hand. Sometimes they will do a burn for training but they’ve got some pretty strict rules on that. They’d rather just send the truck and let it be a backup for your own preparations.
G.
Check with Extension and also the DNR. There are periods of time in the spring when everyone burns ditches, but pastures and woodlands have a little different timing. In our county there’s some entity that handles controlled burns for people but I’m not sure if it’s public or private.
