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Today, Shaye Wanner is having a conversation with guest, Josh Gaskamp to discuss how wildfires affect ranchers and how to reduce risk through grazing management, prescribed fire, and planning. Josh explains that wildfires remove forage inventory, threaten livestock, and can raise feed costs, with fall fires creating greater hardship than spring fires.
He describes using adaptive grazing to reduce fine fuels by preventing excessive, gray thatch buildup, promoting younger growth with higher moisture, and improving soil health so residue breaks down faster. He outlines how to assess thatch by visual cues and digging into the soil, and when prescribed fire may be used for forage quality, brush control, biodiversity, and wildfire mitigation. They also cover planning for private and public lands, including livestock priorities, safe zones, alternate forage sources, and coordinating access for fire crews.
Learn more about wildfire mitigation strategies with Noble here: https://www.noble.org/find-a-course/
Catch more conversations like this one and learn more at https://www.casualcattleconversations.com/
02:04 Meet Josh Gaskamp
03:18 How Wildfires Hit Ranchers
06:24 Grazing To Reduce Fuels
10:17 Spotting Too Much Thatch
12:49 Prescribed Fire As Tool
16:33 Public Lands Wildfire Plans
17:54 Building A Response Plan
21:32 After The Fire Recovery
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