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<blockquote data-quote="Jogeephus" data-source="post: 1454185" data-attributes="member: 4362"><p>Yeah, you are in a totally different forest than I am. I surely wouldn't want cattle stomping the shallow roots of white ash and infecting them with heart rot.</p><p></p><p>The USDA is spending millions of dollars in their attempts to promote wiregrass longleaf forests. Millions have been spent on CRP in planting longleaf on cropland and once planted participants are told to plant wiregrass and other native grasses but most of these grass plantings fail and have to be redone over and over at a huge cost to the taxpayer. One of the most recent debacles was when they brought in a bunch of partridge pea from Texas which was infected by some sort of pathogen that killed thousands of acres of newly planted longleaf. Also this introduction grew nearly six foot tall and shaded out the longleaf seedlings causing them to die from brown spot needle blight. If this wasn't enough the trees then were burnt to a crisp when the mandatory burn was used because this introduction had an oily substance and would burn so fast gasoline wouldn't have made it burn hotter. </p><p></p><p>This is a good example of how a one size fits all prescription by people sitting behind desks is ludicrous.</p><p></p><p>A lot of this is an art coupled with common sense and its the little things that make a huge difference. Little things like pH. Anyone who has spent time in the flatwoods knows wiregrass, big bluestem and to some extent switchgrass usually has companion bushes like blueberry and huckleberry both of which require acidic soils so you would think it would be easy enough to connect the dots and realize you will not be successful planting wiregrass right behind peanuts and cotton just as you are not going to be successful planting blueberries in a field behind cotton. </p><p></p><p>In spite of the USDA's desire to throw tax dollars at it some people are learning there is merit to the old ways and one can use cattle to reclaim this ecosystem while even making a few dollars in the process. Not to mention the benefits to hunting - especially quail. In that respect, I believe cattle are good for the environment. In most of the flatwoods the desirable grasses are already there and need only a chance to grow free from the competition of the galberry and fetterbush. A couple good fires followed by the introduction of cattle to keeps things beat down and some patience and you have just restored an ecosystem and made a few dollars doing it. </p><p></p><p>Surely its not some get rich quick scheme and will require some patience and forethought but at the end of the day the benefits sure seem to outweigh the costs in my view.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jogeephus, post: 1454185, member: 4362"] Yeah, you are in a totally different forest than I am. I surely wouldn't want cattle stomping the shallow roots of white ash and infecting them with heart rot. The USDA is spending millions of dollars in their attempts to promote wiregrass longleaf forests. Millions have been spent on CRP in planting longleaf on cropland and once planted participants are told to plant wiregrass and other native grasses but most of these grass plantings fail and have to be redone over and over at a huge cost to the taxpayer. One of the most recent debacles was when they brought in a bunch of partridge pea from Texas which was infected by some sort of pathogen that killed thousands of acres of newly planted longleaf. Also this introduction grew nearly six foot tall and shaded out the longleaf seedlings causing them to die from brown spot needle blight. If this wasn't enough the trees then were burnt to a crisp when the mandatory burn was used because this introduction had an oily substance and would burn so fast gasoline wouldn't have made it burn hotter. This is a good example of how a one size fits all prescription by people sitting behind desks is ludicrous. A lot of this is an art coupled with common sense and its the little things that make a huge difference. Little things like pH. Anyone who has spent time in the flatwoods knows wiregrass, big bluestem and to some extent switchgrass usually has companion bushes like blueberry and huckleberry both of which require acidic soils so you would think it would be easy enough to connect the dots and realize you will not be successful planting wiregrass right behind peanuts and cotton just as you are not going to be successful planting blueberries in a field behind cotton. In spite of the USDA's desire to throw tax dollars at it some people are learning there is merit to the old ways and one can use cattle to reclaim this ecosystem while even making a few dollars in the process. Not to mention the benefits to hunting - especially quail. In that respect, I believe cattle are good for the environment. In most of the flatwoods the desirable grasses are already there and need only a chance to grow free from the competition of the galberry and fetterbush. A couple good fires followed by the introduction of cattle to keeps things beat down and some patience and you have just restored an ecosystem and made a few dollars doing it. Surely its not some get rich quick scheme and will require some patience and forethought but at the end of the day the benefits sure seem to outweigh the costs in my view. [/QUOTE]
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