With burning, improved gains can be expected for steers, breeding heifers, cows, and calves. The added weight gain by the cows during the grazing season from improved forage quality or quantity could make a difference in the profit or loss statement at year's end. Mid- to late spring burns provided maximum benefit to livestock. Appropriate stocking maximizes benefits from prescribed burning. Improved livestock gain is no real net gain at all if range condition is compromised.
Fire can rejuvenate a pasture by increasing the numbers of seedstalks and density of desired plants.
Also, cattle find these burned pastures more desirable because plants are more palatable. Ranchers like this because the nutritive value of the plants is increased and cattle gain faster. Burning and management Managing burned pastures, whether on season-long or rotational grazing treatments, requires management to maintain range condition or, if possible, improve condition and distribution of the livestock. The research was conducted over 6 years where each third of the unit was burned every 3 years. Cattle began grazing the burned subunit within 1-4 weeks, depending on regrowth of the forage.