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If you want to reduce the natural vegetative litter accumulated on your food plots, or if you have old fields or wood openings that you want to convert into food plots, consider fire.

With the rapidly growing interest in no-till farming practices being used for planting wildlife food plots, we are getting a lot of questions on the use of fire for food plot planting preparation. There are also more traditional “plow and plant” food plot managers who are interested in using fire to remove plant litter from the ground to make planting with ATVs easier. Using fire in these and other controlled burn situations is called prescribed burning.

Prescribed burning, according to the Natural Resource & Conservation Service, is fire applied to a predetermined area within a prescribed set of conditions, dates, and with appropriate safety precautions to achieve specific purposes. Prescribed burning can be applied to forest land, grassland, pastureland, wildlife food plots, and other lands as appropriate.

	A prescribed burn makes no-till seeding much easier.

Advantages of Prescribed Burning on Food Plots

Prescribed burns can serve many purposes for a food plot manager, including:
•   Opening up abandoned fields.
•   Controlling undesirable vegetation.
•   Preparing food plots for planting.
•   Controlling plant disease.
•   Improving plant production quantity and/or quality.
•   Removing natural vegetative debris/litter.
•   Enhancing seed production.
•   Preparing for no-till planting or non-farm equipment planting.

Modified No-till Planting Using Fire

More and more small-size food plot managers are using a well-planned prescribed burn to reduce vegetative ground cover just before a forecast rain and after spraying the plot with a non-selective herbicide (such as glyphosate) a week or two before. As soon as the burn has been conducted and the fire is out, they seed the plot with small seed crops such as brassicas, clover, or buckwheat, using a handheld or ATV-pulled seeder. Finally, they use a cultipacker pulled with an ATV, or simply run over the plot surface with the ATV to get good seed-to-ground contact. If the predicted rain does occur, the seed will be further packed into the soil, resulting in a good food plot crop.

Prescribed Burning is Very Precise

To use fire in a food plot situation is not just a matter of going out when most of the ground cover is dead and setting it on fire; it’s far from it. To use fire as a management tool safely and successfully for wildlife food plots, a lot of planning must go into each burn. In fact, anyone not willing to take the time to learn how to correctly conduct a prescribed burn should not consider using fire in their food plot program.

A prescribed burn for wildlife food plots is a precise science that requires a lot of knowledge, skill, and planning. Without precise management, a small prescribed burn can get out of control quickly and do extensive damage. It is always best to get your local state forestry department involved if you think a burn is what you want to do on your food plots, or if you want to convert small, abandoned fields into food plots. Most states require that a burn permit is obtained before any prescribed burn is conducted. The first thing a permit usually requires is a burn plan.

Components of a Burn Plan

A well thought-out burn plan is needed before a food plot burn is conducted.

Most prescribed burn plans will require maps to show exactly where the burn will take place. A description of the location—including size and ground cover—will be necessary, as well as the timing and goal of the burn. A detailed list of preparations of the area for burning is usually required, along with detailed information on the type, location, and current condition of firebreaks, and the type and condition of ground cover. The adjacent property description with special precautionary areas may be required. You will need a smoke management plan, especially if populated areas are nearby. A checklist of tools and equipment may be necessary, as well as a list of personnel required for the burn. After the burn, most plans call for proper patrol on the entire perimeter of the burned area, with a mop-up plan to put out all flames and smoke in the area.

Other parts of the plan will include notifying adjacent landowners of the burn and having weather information, especially on the day of the burn. The testing of burn equipment to make sure it is in good working order may be required. Notifying the state forestry department, and sometimes the local fire department, is usually required.

Each state has different prescribed burn plan requirements, and the size of the burn may make a big difference in what a plan requires. A small, 2-acre single food plot has fewer needs than multiple food plots or a large, abandoned field. A call to your local state forestry department office will give you the details of what is required for the prescribed burn you are considering. The local National Resources & Conservation Service can also give you valuable information on how to properly prepare a prescribed burn plan.

Suitable Weather is a Must

For food plots, prescribed burning is usually done in late spring to prepare a plot for warm-season crop planting, or in the early fall for cool-season crop planting. For conducting these burns correctly, the weather will play an important role.

	A controlled fire is a good way to remove grass/weed litter from a food plot.

Weather guidelines you should consider when doing a prescribed burn:
1.  Plan the burn just before a rain.
2.  Select a time when the relative humidity is between 25% and 50%; the lower the humidity, the hotter the fire.
3.  The air temperature should be between 40 and 70 degrees.
4.  Wind speed should be between 5 and 15 miles per hour—no more than that.
5.  Monitor the wind direction—it must be going in the direction you want the fire to burn and the smoke to go.

A valuable aid in prescribed burning is a handheld weather meter such as the Kestrel 3500. It is a tough, easy-to-use, precise instrument that measures the wind speed, temperature of the air, relative humidity, dew point, and much more. It is backlit, so it is easy to use for night burns.

Prescribed burns should only be done when ideal weather conditions are present.

Well-Managed Firebreaks are a Must

Well thought-out firebreaks are essential for a prescribed burn and must be done according to state forestry agency requirements. Some natural firebreaks such as streams or roads may qualify. Be sure to contact your state forestry agency and plan your firebreaks according to their guidelines.

Under the right conditions and management, fire can be a great tool for food plot management, especially if no-till planting is your goal.

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