Naturally KMK

 

KMK cattle company is apart of the Tallgrass Prairie grassland ecosystem and is well known for producing quality beef while preserving the natural integrity of the land. An integral part of caring for the native rangeland is implementing natural land management tools such as prescribed fire to care for our land and cattle properly. We invite you to see how the KMK ranch conducts and manages the anthropogenic practice of being the top stewards of Oklahoma rangeland.

 

Why KMK uses controlled burning

  • Fire is a natural land management tool once used by the Native Americans to manipulate the surrounding grasslands to hunt and improve wildlife habitat.
  • Fire enhances livestock habitats and can increase individual performance.
  • Prescribed fire is a cost-effective land management option.
  • Gets rid of weedy and non-native invasive species for both our cattle and wildlife.

Prescribed Fire also contributes to KMK’s wildlife care by controlling invasive plant species while improving their habitat. Using the anthropogenic method, we can remove brush and allow wildlife and cattle easier access around our pastures, and cleansing the land of parasites like ticks. Due to the microclimate needed to reproduce, fire dries out the ticks micro-ecosystem and briefly rids the unwelcome guests out of the field until they are reintroduced back by some other creature.

Since the Tallgrass ecosystem has experienced many fires wild and human-made over its long lifespan, the native plants that grow on the KMK ranch respond to prescribed fire because they are fire-adapted. “Burning causes an earlier green-up of plants following a dormant season because the blackened soil surface heating the soil faster” (Weir, 2009)

Unknown Naturally KMK

Picture: https://iowaagliteracy.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/why-do-they-do-that-burning-fields-and-ditches/

 

 

The KMK Fire Plan

From Raising cattle to being the top stewards of our land, KMK ranch knows that with every great prescribed burn, there is an even better plan that it is built from. Without a solid plan to conduct a controlled burn properly, known as if it were the back of our hand, we might as well pick a random day, light some matches, and wait until the show starts.

Although the actual burning is necessary here at KMK, we believe that a detailed fire plan must be detailed for a prescribed burn to be 100% successful. But not to detail that it impedes our rancher’s ability to operate.

  • Fire plans are the ins and outs of what the burn will consist of that day. A map of everything that needs to be checked off before the burn may proceed. These plans cover the basics that will help determine how, what, when, and where the burn should be. “The most important factor to consider with a fire plan is to determine the safest and easiest way to complete your tasks: before, during, and after a burn” (Weir, 2009).

Once this first step is complete, you can move on to setting the dates of the burn and choosing the weather conditions. This part of the plan is one of the most important as the weather is the ultimate deciding factor on whether we will burn on a given day. Our ranchers have suggested to keep an eye out on temperature, relative humidity,  wind speed, and frontal boundaries that can have incredible effects on the outcome of a burn. Here at KMK ranch, we burn in late March and early April, depending on our hay meadows’ production.  Below are the key weather factors to keep an eye on when prepping for a burn.

  • Relative humidity – the amount of moisture in a volume of air to the total amount that volume can hold at a given temperature and atmospheric pressure
  • Temperature – can either heat or cool objects in a burn unit – the colder objects are, the longer it will take to burn.
  • Dew Point – the temperature at which the saturation vapor pressure equals the actual pressure
  • Air Masses – consist of low and high-pressure systems
  • Wind

Remember that you can always use the weather channel, but you should not fully invest in the weathermen as the weather can change instantly. Also, never plan to burn when there are chances of thunderstorms because of the collapse, the winds from the storms can travel very fast and extremely far, greatly increasing the risk of spot-fires.

We recommend creating a fire plan for when things go south or the burn is not successful. This way, KMK knows where the problem originated, how it got out of hand, and how we can change it in the future. If the ranch were to run into legal trouble due to a bad burn, we have a plan with dates, times, and names of people we spoke to determine where the mistake was made. It should be known that under Oklahoma law you the burner will be held liable if anything is to go wrong during the burn.

 

 

Fire in the public eye

The KMK ranch has been apart of the Bartlesville community for 20 years now. We have seen our small town start to grow into an up and coming city. As more and more people begin to move out to our neck of the woods, the KMK cattle company understands everyone’s natural fear and cautiousness to the unknown world of fire. In addition to the increase of media attention with the California and Colorado wildfires. Here at the KMK ranch, we understand that without the proper knowledge of the subject matter, problems with smoke, fear of danger, or lack of trust, getting behind prescribed burning does not sound attractive. However, when handled correctly, prescribed burning is a safe process, with much scientific research backing its beneficial output. There are even methods of avoiding some of the biggest fears that the public can have with controlled burns. This being smoke management, all landowners, if they are thinking about conducting a burn, must be aware of their surroundings within at least .75-30 miles depending on the weather of that day.

Another very important aspect between fire and the public eye is on the landowner, if the landowner does not have good public relations with the rest of the community, no one will be able to get informed or will they be able to trust one another. Although at times it may be tough the KMK ranch is a big supporter on staying calm and collected when dealing with all sorts of public relations good or bad.

If you have a big burn coming up and don’t know how much smoke will be produced by the controlled burn, learn what the ventilation rate, mixing height, and wind speed for the day you would like to burn you will be able to accurately guess the height, speed, and travel distance on the smoke.

 

When done correctly, prescribed fire can be an extremely useful natural land management tool that has benefits not only for the KMK ranch but for anyone who enjoys public or private lands. Prescribed burning is cost-effective and includes the natural process that Oklahoma’s range has adapted to over its lifespan.

 

 

References:

Weir, J. R. (2009). Conducting Prescribed Fires: A Comprehensive Manual (Illustrated ed.). Texas A&M University Press.