Examining the Impact of Patch Burning on Livestock Grazing Patterns in Edwards Plateau, Texas

Production of sheep, goat, and cattle are major agricultural enterprises on West Texas rangelands, especially in the Edwards Plateau. In this region, the use of fire as a management tool was suppressed until recently. Although previous studies have been conducted to evaluate cattle use of burned versus unburned patches, there has been a lack of studies where combinations of livestock species grazing together on patch burned areas have been evaluated. The objective of this study is to examine grazing patterns of cattle, sheep and goats, both spatially and temporally, on areas where patch burning has been implemented. The study site is the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Ranch, Martin Ranch, located in Mesquite-Oak-Savanna ecosystem in Menard County of Texas, USA. In February 2019 and September 2020, patch burns were implemented on the ranch and represented about 29% of the total ranch area (480 out of 1655 ha). After the burns, animals from the resident herd were randomly selected and GPS collars were placed on 34 goats, 33 sheep, and 8 cows to reflect the proportion of animals in the resident herd. The GPS collars were set to collect movement data every 10 minutes during a fourteen-month period. Gates and fences for the entire ranch were opened and livestock were free to choose areas to graze. Data from the GPS’s were evaluated to determine locations where the animals grazed and their preferences for different areas of the landscape. Initial observations indicate that cattle and sheep were more attracted by recent burned patches compared to goats. Livestock forage use patterns and time spent by species in the burned and unburned areas and among different vegetation land cover classes are presented. Information from this study will assist in providing information to producers on how implementation of patch burning would influence their management of these grazing lands