Curious about patch-burn grazing?  Want to get together with other grassland enthusiasts, ranchers, researchers, and wildlife managers and talk about a variety of ways to manage for diverse wildlife habitats and plant communities?  The annual Patch-Burn Grazing Meeting might just be for you.

A photo from the field tour of the 2013 Patch-Burn Grazing meeting in South Dakota/Minnesota.

This is an annual, and informal, gathering held at a different location each year.  This year, we get to host it here at the Platte River Prairies, so we’ll be sharing some of what we’ve learned (successes and failures) about managing prairies with various combinations of fire, grazing, haying, and other tools.  Discussion topics will also include potential differences between how patch-burn grazing works in southern vs. northern grasslands, whether/how it might work on Nebraska sandhills ranches, alternate methods for creating habitat diversity besides “traditional” patch-burn grazing, and some practical issues such as figuring stocking rate and dealing with livestock health issues.

The meeting will be held August 13 and 14 in Grand Island, Nebraska, with a tour on the 14th of our Platte River Prairies just to the west.  There is no registration fee, but food and lodging will be at your own expense.  If you’re interested in attending, you can see the agenda for the meeting here and the registration form here.  Registration is due July 20.