With Thanksgiving right around the corner, most of us are planning our dinner menus. According to a survey by the National Turkey Federation, 88% of us will be eating turkey.
While most of the birds served up will be farm raised, some gobblers will be hunted in the wild.
Around 6.2 million wild turkeys trot around the United States and can be found in 49 of the 50 states. Turkeys thrive in woodlands and grasslands.
Most turkeys’ lives start out on grasslands because mother hens build their nests in grasslands with just enough cover to hide them from predators. Once the poults hatch, they need room to walk around without a lot of woody species getting in their way. Grasslands provide insects for poults, young turkeys from hatchling to sub-adults, as they learn to eat. The perfect amount of bare ground between grasses is also important because it allows poults to move around easily.
Even though turkeys love woodlands, they won’t stay long if the understory becomes too thick. Over time without any disturbance woodlands will become overgrown which doesn’t allow enough sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. This causes a lack of desirable plants to grow for turkeys. Many land managers use prescribed fire to set back woody regrowth, promote herbaceous native plants, and to open the canopy understory. Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist, Tucker Slack says within six months to three years, turkeys will come back because it provides the perfect amount of concealment, while also having enough room to move around.
Properly managed native habitat is important for these animals. It not only positively effects our ecosystem, helps threatened species like the red-cockaded woodpecker, eastern cottontails, and eagles, but also provides a delicious thanksgiving meal for your family!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Watch this video by Texas A&M Wildlife and Fisheries Extension to learn more about managing wild turkey habitat.
|
|
Invasive cedar trees are causing issues for grasslands in more ways than one. Not only do they deplete soil from nutrients and moisture, if left to their own devices, they will multiply quickly, creating fuel for wildfires. Chaining is one of the few techniques used by land managers to effectively control these invasive woody species.
Many people remember the Kansas wildfire in 2016. The Anderson Creek Wildfire lasted nearly a week and burned a total area of 620 square miles (400,000 acres) consisting of prairie and cattle grazing lands. That fire killed 600 cattle, burned 16 houses and other structures.
|
|
While wildfires take out a majority of the woody encroachment, sometimes it doesn't take everything. Although dead, some of the larger cedars remain standing and provide a place for birds to perch and spread cedar seeds. Wind is another spreader of seeds. Some of these larger trees sit in gullies and are unable to be cleared with typical equipment. In order to address these standing dead trees, many land managers are adopting chaining to control brush.
Chaining is a technique that first became popular in the 1950s. The process involves using a large metal ball connected to chains between two dozers, and pulling it across the cedar infested land. This method can clear small areas very quickly. Once the trees are laying on the ground, land managers return with fire to eradicate the carcases. The pictured trees were killed in 2016, but needed to be left to dry out for five years before the chaining could occur. The chaining process went out of style in the 70s when diesel prices went up, however, land managers are readopting the practice as it is an effective way to manage cedar encroachment on prairielands.
Visit KGLC’s Facebook page to watch a video of the chaining demonstration during their October workshop.
|
|
Upcoming Events & Updates |
|
The 8NGLC Conference is in less than a month!
We are gearing up to see you in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in just a few short weeks. With everything going on in the weeks to come, we know taking the time away from your business and family is hard. The conference agenda is packed full of producer and academia presentations to further assist you in your land stewardship journey.
|
|
Our partner, Producer’s Voice, is the newest online publication that's using modern day storytelling to highlight farmers and rancher's that live and breathe all things agriculture.
On behalf of the publication, we would like to extend an offer to our Herd News readers to submit their own stories to be shared on the platform. If you would like to have your story told, you may reply to this email and say that you are interested in being featured in the publication. If you have an agriculture issue that you believe needs to be addressed, would like to nominate a neighbor to have their story told, or any general story ideas, please reply to this email and we will pass that along to the publication.
|
|
Vice-Chairman - Rob Cook
|
If you’re like me, the last two years have been a blur, but somehow at the same time have felt like a decade. On the morning of Thanksgiving last year my son and I were able to harvest a mule deer, but the day was bitter sweet. We were only hunting on Thanksgiving morning because illness was preventing our extended family from getting together. I remember looking at him that morning and giving thanks that we were able to witness the Lord’s creation at sunrise together, but also wishing we were headed to his grandparents for Thanksgiving lunch. Thinking about the hardships and loss that many have gone through the past couple of years reminds me how much I have to be thankful for. When I talk about the National Grazing Lands Conference, I always mention what a resource it is for producers from around the country to come together to listen and learn directly from each other. What I’m reminded of today is how thankful I am that we will have the opportunity to come together in Myrtle Beach for the 8NGLC to not only learn from each other, but to also support one another. |
|
|
NatGLC YouTube Video Library |
|
One of the missions of NatGLC is to promote sustainable management of our #AmazingGrazingLands . One way we do this is through sharing educational videos to our Youtube channel. Click the image to check the growing video library of ranchers from across the nation sharing their knowledge with fellow producers.
|
|
In Tucson, AZ you can find the Biosphere 2, a 35 year old research facility created to research self-sustaining life for space technology. It is a 3.14 acres research facility that has five booms under glass. These biomes include ocean, mangrove wetlands, tropical rainforest, savanna grassland, and fog desert. In September of 1991, four men and four women entered the biosphere to stay inside for two years. They had access to 3,800 species of plants and diverse animals. Over the two years, the eight "Biospherians" were allowed to communicate with friends and family over email and telephone, but could only physically interact with those within. Over the two years, they survived only on what was in the facility and recycled all air, water, and waste. |
|
8NGLC CONFERENCE
Click HERE to watch videos from
past conferences.
|
|
Want to stay up to date on events? Click the image to see the NatGLC Calendar!
Have an event you want to add to the calendar?
|
|
|
|
In this video, Christian Ebel brings awareness to the most endangered ecosystem in the world, the disappearing native grasslands.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
