Help with CRP grass
 

In a couple weeks I have to turn in a form saying whether I wanna burn off my CRP grass or just cut it. I was wondering what you guys think would be the best thing to do??

Talk to your local forester, but in Illinois burning is preferred over cutting because it is a natural process that supposedly kills off unwanted species and benefits the goods ones.

There should be a local governmental official that can help you decide.

I'd burn it just for the sake of entertainment. I don't mind spending hours on the brush hog, but a good brush fire is hard to beat! Unless they do it chemically somehow now...
-Jake

How could anyone make even a flippant call on that. Wouldn't the amount of acres have alot to do with it. Here in CO CRP could be several thousand acres. Not likely you can have a controlled burn.

What are we talkin here 20 acres or 640 acres ?

were talking 35 acres

burn it........

Yes, you can have controlled burns for large sections. Yes, buring a big section is much more complicated than a smaller section, but it's not impossible.

I generally prefer to burn my CRP, but it depends on how much moisture we get during the burning season, and how thick the weed population is during the previous growing season.

If it's too dry, we're not allowed to burn. If the weeds are getting higly populated, then I'll make an effort to burn no matter what.

Burning is advantageous because it will return many nutrients to the soils, and give your PH a good kick in the right direction.

It does need to be done at the right time (like before seed heads on weeds are formed). Once they mature and fall off, many weed seeds will germinate anyway. The hot air rising will form a convection and pull the Heat upwards as opposed to under the grasses and many weed seeds will survive the heat, and can outcompete the native wanted plants to come back if the timing is not good. Check with your local biologists, especially the ones that are into birds, as they will know those grasses inside and out.

In this picture I am sitting in the middle of CR grass. It extends several miles behind me. If you lit it on fire it is likely you would be able to see it from space.

I have helped burn many crp fields and pastures, a few years ago, we, about 15 of us burned 5 sections. It is not that hard or difficult to contain but you need the right equipment and wind.

#1. Does the property have a road bordering any sides? If so, I would use the road as a starting point, You are going to need a truck with a water tank and a gas powered pump to spray water. One of our ranchers has a set up on a tractor as well.

#2. You only want to try to burn it with a light favorable wind and you will get a better burn if you have the fire slowly burning into the wind, it is also much more controllable. We also often burn alot of wheat stubble here. It might be a good idea to run a disk around the perimeter, this will also greatly reduce the fuel and help with control. If you have any wood fence posts or power poles, you will need to pay attention to those so as not to burn them, also any trees you want to keep. Especially cedars, they can go up in flames in a hurry. You should notify your local sheriffs dept. that you are conducting a controlled burn,..sometimes counties will have burn bans in effect due to particularly dry spells. If you can get a tractor and a disk,...Good luck and if you have never done this, ...get help

We have burned alot at night too due to calmer winds, a guy with a torch on a 4wheeler works well for lighting it, I think the biggest question i would have is what borders all sides? We have a HWY bordering 1 of the proeprties we burn, its not a good idea to burn and have the smoke going across a hwy,...each property really needs the right wind conditions for burn.