Kansas Ranchers Use New Strategies to Preserve Prairie Lands

Old Problems Require Creative Tools To Improve Working Grasslands

The menace of woody encroachment looms large on the horizon of the tallgrass prairie, literally and figuratively. An alarming increase in trees like eastern redcedar threatens the livelihood of generational ranchers. Livestock producers rely on these precious grasslands to provide food for their cattle herds. 

Woody encroachment makes working rangelands less productive for livestock. It also increases wildfire risk, and threatens animals that need intact prairie habitat. Plus, woody encroachment makes grasslands less diverse because fewer native plants can grow beneath the trees.

Chris and Cole Mushrush are keeping trees at bay on their ranch in Strong City, Kansas. They’re also using virtual fencing to repair eroding soils and to keep their grass healthy and productive.

Keeping The Prairie Tree And Seed Free

The Kansas Great Plains Grassland Initiative is helping landowners reduce their vulnerability to woody plant encroachment in core grasslands. This rancher-driven, science-based effort is led by the Natural Resources Conservation Services’ Working Lands for Wildlife. 

Since the inception of the initiative, NRCS has dedicated several million dollars to keeping the prairie tree-free. When Dean Krehbiel, NRCS state resource conservationist for Kansas, pitched the Great Plains Grasslands Initiative to Kansas ranchers, he asked if they “had an interest in keeping prairie, prairie.”

Once ranchers were on board, the NRCS first helped them map where trees were encroaching on their land. Next, they strategically removed these woody shrubs by cutting them down. Lastly, they utilized prescribed fires to incinerate any sources of seeds in the prairie landscape to prevent new trees from sprouting.

“For that ranching community, along with our partners, to step up and say grasslands are important and we have threats and we need to address them, that’s probably what makes me most proud,” Krehbiel says. 

Mushrush Ranch’s Multi-Generation, Multi-Strategy Approach

Chris Mushrush is one of three generations who lives and works on Mushrush Ranches located near Strong City, Kansas. He recalls looking through his grandparents’ old photos of grazing lands, which were absent of trees. However, much of those same lands have become thick with trees. Many of the ranch’s draws and streams have disappeared.

“We noticed that we were cutting more and more trees every year and we felt like we were losing,” Mushrush explains. Once his family started working with the GPGI, he says the collaboration gave them  “a way to make strategic wins so we can actually see progress and know that we are making headway on the landscape.”

Cole Mushrush, Chris’ brother, is also excited to see the outcomes of their work to preserve the grassland ecosystem. Removing trees and woody shrubs allowed waterways to flow again on their grazing lands. It also made it easier for the Mushrushes to navigate their pastures when looking for or moving cattle.

Using Virtual Fencing To Improve Grazing Lands

Another facet of the Mushrushes’ conservation work with NRCS has been to start a virtual fencing project in partnership with the Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University. Virtual fencing is a new tool to solve the old problem of erosion and overgrazing.

“The major frameworks of this project are to increase habitat for upland game birds and try to repair erosion along waterways,” says Mushrush. “We want to see the benefits of grazing in collaboration with burning, and if there’s better ways to rotate through burned areas.”

Virtual fencing collars push cattle out of riparian areas to prevent erosion, Mushrush explains. The collars also move cattle toward areas that aren’t grazed as intensely to give other pastures a needed break.

The Mushrushes are able to preload the collars with grazing perimeters. This means they map their entire grazing plan for the year by utilizing satellite images. Each year they decide which  pastures to rest, then keep their cattle away to allow the grasses to regenerate. 

So far, the fencing collars have been successful, Cole says. He is excited to see the results five years from now as their work with the GPGI continues. 

“We need to be able to utilize our grasslands to their fullest potential while also preserving them for future generations,” Cole says. “We are trying to perpetuate the family business and that’s the right thing to do, to be stewards of the land.”