UNR scientists have discovered that fire danger can be reduced through the application of targeted cattle grazing. | Tyler Lastovich/Pexels
UNR scientists have discovered that fire danger can be reduced through the application of targeted cattle grazing. | Tyler Lastovich/Pexels
The culprit for wildfire risks in the Intermountain West is yearly invasive grass, scientists from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), said.
The aggressive cheatgrass encroaches the state’s grasslands and represents an extreme risk to the area. a UNR news release said this week.
"Our work establishes that protein feed supplements in the fall and early winter can attract cattle to locations dominated by cheatgrass, significantly reducing the standing fine-fuel biomass by more than 50%, while making room for native grasses to grow," Barry Perryman, professor of rangeland sciences at the university, said in the release.
The university reported that utilizing grazing cattle during the dormant growing season can help mitigate the danger by employing feed stations with protein supplements.
"It is difficult to concentrate animals in one place during spring for long enough periods of time to be of any use,” Perryman said. “However, cattle can be concentrated on cheatgrass during the fall, using supplementation as a tool. Reducing the amount of cheatgrass fuel carryover may effectively reduce the amount of total fuel available during the next year’s fire season. If several hundred pounds per acre of cheatgrass can be removed during the fall, through cattle grazing, that is several hundred pounds that will not be added to the next year's fuel load."
Further research is needed in order to comprehend how far protein supplements can effectively entice cattle away from water in large meadows, Perryman said. He noted that studies showed the distance could be roughly two and a half miles on the plains in northern Nevada when cheatgrass grows in fall and early winter.
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