Native: grass that heals the land
Published: January 29, 2020
Author: Travis P Krause
“I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free, and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures, and where everything drew a free breath."
-Ten Bears, the great Comanche war chief
When I moved back to the family ranch in 2010 we had one of the wettest years on record. It rained almost 45 inches here at the ranch. The pastures were so lush it was unbelievable. Then the drought of record in 2011-12 hit. The lush pastures became a distant memory as the livestock and wildlife consumed any vegetation that was holding on. Most of the so-called "improved" pastures looked like the Mojave Desert. The Klein Grass and Bermuda, both brought from Africa by the Extension Agency were hardly visible. There was simply bare soil. These non-native species didn't know how to survive the drought we were experiencing. Which grasses survived and thrived once the rains returned? You guessed it, the native grasses? Primarily low-rainfall adapted natives such as Buffalo grass, Windmill grass and Sideoats grama.
Why are native grasses important?
1) Conservation - exotic/introduced species can push our natives and the wildlife that depends on them.
2) Natives require less rainfall and no fertilizer. They are deep rooted once established and have a symbiotic relationship with the microbes and fungi in the our soil.
3) It's a choice for future - interdependence of all life depends on a natural and balanced ecology. Natives are the basis for this which feeds us, cleans our air and cleans our water.
We have some old documents written in the mid 1800's by my family. These letters were written to family still living in Alsace, where our family had immigrated from in 1846. One of the letters more or less describes them establishing a homestead on a hill top surrounded by prairies and running streams. If you have visited our ranch there are no longer running streams (unless it rains 23 inches in one month as it did recently), and there are no prairies in our valley. Most of the ranch is brush country mixed with large, bull mesquite trees. The streams would still run in my opinion, but the explosion in human population and heavy use of water for crop irrigation has all but depleted the aquifers that once spring fed creeks. The early pioneers grazed this country until there wasn't any grass left. Overgrazing gave the brush and trees the opportunity to encroach on land that was previously occupied by grass and forbs (prairie). In the world of grass, brush and trees there is a constant battle for sunlight. Whoever wins gets to grow in that spot. Some of you may argue that the prairie was maintained by fire, but recent anthropological research says otherwise. The Native Americans would use fire to burn the prairies to attract wildlife, such as the great herds of bison and antelope. It made hunting them for food significantly easier. There were certainly natural fires, but most likely they were infrequent. Evidence is pointing more and more towards the hooved ungulates for maintaining the once vast prairie ecosystem. Bison were almost hunted to extinction, Native Americans were methodically killed or moved, and the prairie was settled by early pioneers such as my family. Little did they know what the consequences of their actions would be hundreds of years later. I'm not trying to get political, just stating the facts. There is no arguing that fire can be a useful tool to maintain prairie ecosystems, but so can sound grazing management.
You may have figured out by now that the way we graze our cattle mimics nature. We move them every few days or when the pasture "tells" us it's time. We don't graze the plant more than 2/3 and often no more than 1/2. We give the pasture time to recover, often not returning for 120 to 180 days. This requires some basic infrastructure like electric fencing and underground pipes to supply the pastures. Our main ranch is broke into 27 pastures, which can be subdivided into many more. Someone on our Facebook page made the comment the other day that "rotating cattle like that is a lot of work." Once the cattle learn the rhythm it's easy. It takes about 15 minutes to set up the next strand of temporary fence and maybe another 10 minutes to move the water trough. When we call the cattle to move it only takes the herd, 100 strong, to move through the gate. Yes it's a lot of work building miles of electric fence, but we only do it hopefully once in a lifetime. The return on investment is greater than you can imagine. I'm not just talking financial return, I'm talking about the biological return as well. In addition it's a pleasure to see the land and the cattle thriving.
As you may envision native grasses fit perfectly into the equation. We do our best at Parker Creek Ranch to re-establish native grasses and maintain a balanced ecosystem through our agricultural practices. Over the years we have replanted over 75 acres of native prairie. We hope to convert many more acres over our lifetimes. Your support has allowed us to continue regenerating thousands of acres of degraded land. Along the way we have learned a few things. If you have any questions about establishing native grasses in your pastures or just an interest in what we do please feel free to contact me by e-mail at mail@parkercreekranch.com.