During spring, pasture species undergo a period of growth. This is normally completed in late spring or early summer and is dependant on seasonal variables such as insolation, rain, temperature and evaporation of moisture from the soil. As the period of growth is completed, crops and pastures lose their ability to draw moisture from the soil and consequently begin to desiccate. By mid summer the plant is almost devoid of moisture and is said to be completely cured. The moisture content of fire fuels such as crops and pastures dramatically affects the ignition potential and spreading characteristics of bushfires.
Moisture acts as a heat sink and interferes with the preheating of adjacent unburnt fuels.
As plant moisture decreases, fire intensity and rates of forward spread increase. Curing can also be expressed as the ratio of live and dead material or green and brown plant material. Whilst the green component of grassland fuels alter slowly as the physiological state changes, the dead component may fluctuate diurnally due to the influences of temperature, relative humidity, rain and dew. Grassland fire behaviour models include curing as an input. The changes in colour from green to bleached straw indicated diminishing leaf chlorophyll content.