Are you ready for the burn?! About 13 yrs ago we converted 30 acres of cropland to prairie with the help of the USDA conservation programs. Following good practice, we do a prairie burn every few years to favor the diversity of prairie grasses and forbs that were first planted.
It takes careful planning to coordinate a burn. We need help from Mother Nature, ensuring the right wind direction and wind speed. A coordinated crew is also essential, we had a four-person team this year. They did a great job of maintaining the prairie burn and the safety of all.
To maintain control, we first mow and burn in fire breaks against the wind on three sides of the prairie land and then light the final fire that the wind carries across the prairie. The crew is very careful to monitor the fire so it does not escape our burn area.
It was success and we look forward to seeing the colorful, diverse habitat that emerges and favors woodland bird species, pollinators, butterflies and other beneficial insects. Biodiversity is very important to The Cider Farm.