A Shining Example

April is nearing and in the Flint Hills that means burning season is near. The burning of native tallgrass prairie is necessary to keep it healthy and thriving. Without fire, the prairie will transition into brush and eventually into forest. It is the continued use of fire that has kept our Flint Hills a prairie. Last spring that seemed to be threatened by the EPA and air quality in Kansas City and Wichita.

I must admit, I am like many of my fellow farmers and ranchers, and I am skeptical of the EPA. "I am from the government and I am here to help" are words that raise the hair on our necks. That was how I feared it would be when I heard that the EPA was looking into Flint Hills burning and heightened levels of ozone in Kansas City and Wichita. However, at least in this instance and at least for now, I was wrong.

It is also easy for those of us affected by this to look at our city neighbors as bad people. After all it is their cars, their businesses and their cities that are the base of the ozone problem. However, that view is also very short-sighted. The reality is that our city neighbors are our customers and ultimately our partners in paying taxes and growing our economy.

What happened may be a model for solving future problems. A very diverse group of individuals representing agriculture, government, business, cities and special interest groups came together to formulate a plan to manage the smoke in the Flint Hills.

The plan is voluntary and asks producers to look at where their smoke is going to go when deciding when to burn. Our burns are called prescribed burns. Much like the prescription your doctor would give you, we decide when to burn by what we want to accomplish with that burn.

K-State research proves that burning around April 15 will add an additional 23 pounds to feeder cattle grazed in the Flint Hills, thus lowering the amount of grain needed. Other research promotes burning later in April to control woody invasive species (remember I told you that the tallgrass prairie would revert to brush without fire), lowering our need for chemical and preserving the last tallgrass prairie. Some burns are utilized to promote the growth of forbs for wildlife habitat. There are many different reasons to burn and many different times (within about a 6 week window) utilized to accomplish different outcomes.

The plan is voluntary for producers, so it doesn't restrict the time of the year that they can burn. It simply asks for them to consider other elements such as upper atmosphere mixing height, wind direction, and wind speed when deciding what day to burn. New Internet tools have been developed to help with these decisions. K-State, the National Weather Services, KDHE and various farm groups such as KLA and Kansas Farm Bureau have combined efforts to aid in education and implementation of this plan. It is truly a group effort

Now it is our time, as farmers and ranchers, to put this team effort into place and make a difference in the air quality for our city neighbors while still preserving our absolutely necessary management practice of prescribed burning. This is also a shining example of the partnership and communication that we, as farmers and ranchers, must have to ultimately forge a bond and an understanding with our customers.

Farmers and Ranchers, Ultimate Environmentalists

Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to take part in a survey administered by two K-State geography students. This survey was gauging how those of us in agriculture viewed climate and the environment around us. As I answered I realized those of us in agriculture go to great lengths to protect our environment. Here is what I shared with them.

Farmers and ranchers have always been keenly aware of the land, water and air around them and we have always tried to protect those valuable assets. But in the past ten years we have come to an even greater understanding of how to protect and improve the world around us. Improvements in technology (yes, the same technology the radical fringes would try to use against us) have allowed us to preserve more of the soil, water and air we all depend on.

Advances such as genetically modified crops have allowed us to use better herbicides allowing for less invasive weed control methods. Many of us now use herbicides such as Round-up to control weeds rather than mechanically cultivating the ground. Mechanical cultivation tills the soil allowing for erosion due to the wind and water. By not tilling up the land we are also keeping more of the organic matter on the soil surface. This not only helps hold the critical top soil in place but also helps with the overall fertility of the soil.

No-till farming practices coupled with soil conservation methods such as terraces and water-ways help to insure that we will never see another Dust Bowl. Not only protecting our soil but our air quality too. Our farmland is not only healthier but more productive than it ever has been and we are striving to improve it everyday.

I also noted that we have improved our native range. Many ranchers are utilizing methods such as rotational grazing to improve the health of our native warm-season grasses. We have a better understanding of the growth patterns of our grasses and we can tailor grazing programs, prescribed burning of those native ranges and herbicides to keep them growing vigorously and free of invasive brush. Our tall grass native prairie in the Flint Hills is a very fragile ecosystem and must be maintained with regular burning and grazing. Our ranchers have an intimate understanding of the ecosystem and work tirelessly to maintain and improve it for our future generations.

The final part of the survey was about climate change. The students looked at me with furrowed brows when I told them I thought it was fairly egotistical of us to think we could change the earth's climate. Personally I believe everything runs in cycles and we must work with those cycles. However, I am also equally sure that as farmers and ranchers we are doing everything we can to both protect and improve the environment around us.

I am not sure what they thought of my answers. They were very polite and told me they would share the results of the survey with me this fall. What I am sure of is that as I answered their questions, I once again reaffirmed my belief that those of us in agriculture are the ultimate environmentalists. After all we are the stewards of the land who rely on the air, soil and water around us to make a living off of the land and we are the same stewards of the land dedicated to protect it for future generations.

The Gift of the First Day of Spring

This forecast this week seems to say the long, cold, dreary winter is behind us and spring has sprung. The changing of seasons is one of the things I love about being in agriculture, every season has its reason and something good about it. However, each season has its challenges and this winter certainly had many challenges. I guess that is why I am so excited to see spring here, and today is a shining (pun intended) example of why.

The green of the grass is starting to push through the brown haze of the mud. The hillsides are changing from brown to a tint of green and soon they will be completely green. The wind has that smell of clean, new, the rebirth of the prairie after the dormancy of winter. The timber is alive with the gobbling of turkeys and the chirping of birds. Everything seems fresh and new.

My favorite thing about spring is the new calves and lambs. They run, buck and play, just enjoying the energizing warmth of the yellow sunlight. Soon they will be stretched out on the hillsides just soaking up that energy, dozing in the soft, warmth of spring. This afternoon all the cows, calves, ewes and lambs will be content to just relax in the beauty of the first, true spring day of the year.

This is one of those days I wish I could bottle and send to all of my friends who don't get to share in this incredible blessing that God has chosen me to be a part of. This is the day that you realize that the rebirth of life in spring is both a miracle and a blessing imparted on us by our God. Farmers and ranchers have the gift of being close to life and enjoying its beauty on glorious spring days like today. I think this is why we understand dignity of the lives we are charged with, the grandeur of the land we live on and the purity of our environment. For those gifts I am eternally grateful.

Uncommon Common Sense

I propose that on days of poor air quality in the Kansas City metro area that the driving of cars be banned. The EPA wants to regulate when we can burn because of air quality issues in Kansas City. Let me state that it is my belief that while we may push those air quality numbers to a higher level, pasture burning is not the cause for alarm. The air quality is pushed to the brink because of all the cars being driven in the Kansas City area.

You can't do that, it would hurt your business. Well, I suppose it would and those are the same reasons that limiting burning do not work for those of us in the Flint Hills. Research has proven that fire is necessary to maintain the integrity of the tallgrass prairie. Kansas State University research has also proven that cattle eat a more nutritious diet on pastures that have been burned in the spring. Therefore, they gain more weight, they are worth more money when the rancher sells them and the rancher makes more money (or loses less).

The EPA would have us burn at different times of the year. Again, research has proven that earlier burning results in more water running off of the native range increasing soil erosion and allowing less water to infiltrate the ground and causing a lack of soil moisture. They have all of this information and yet they chose to ignore it.

What am I asking for. Well, I suppose I am asking for something novel, something very uncommon in government regulatory agencies with political appointees, common sense. All I am asking for is for the EPA to realize that the burning of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie is necessary and only results in a very short, very temporary blip in air quality and to ignore it. In a matter of hours or days it will go away. In the meantime, we will maintain the last tallgrass prairie in the world. Remember, as ranchers we have spent our whole lives taking care of the prairie and we know what is best. Please contact your congressional representative and the EPA and ask them to use some uncommon, common sense.