Wonderful! We should do a Prairie Lakes Group outing to go see. Donna On Jul 10, 2008, at 8:56 AM, Steve & Connie Swan wrote: > Donna, > > There is a drive you can do here that allows one to observe many > different > management styles of Iowa grasslands. Drive west from Fostoria. > Around > mile three you will see the Prairie Flower. They have restored many > native > species on fields that were once farmed. It is quite beautiful now > with > many flowers blooming. It is not however, a classic prairie as they > have > concentrated particular species in particular areas for ease of > harvest. > > Besides prairies there are several other interesting features on > this drive. > On the north side of the road you will pass a farmstead with among > other > things a cubist rabbit hutch and a real moai, there is an oxbow > marsh, and > on the south side of the road you will see a small green straw bale > house. > > Around mile 7 or 8 there is a Nature Conservancy 40 acre project > (the Mori > Prairie > http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/iowa/preserves/art2214 > .html ) that I believe is a piece of land that was never plowed. It > was > probably hayed but has been managed for native species for the last > decade > or so. It is a beautiful piece with lots of diversity. > > Continuing west you will come to a stop sign. Drive one mile west > on gravel > and on the south west corner of the intersection you will encounter > another > field that has never been plowed. It has been grazed traditionally > for a > long time and has pretty much converted to Eurasian cool season > grasses > although it is hard to tell for sure as they never have a chance to > go to > seed. > > In my eye the beauty of an Iowa prairie is its texture and diversity > of > colors and foliage types. The opposite and antithesis of a prairie > is a > mowed lawn. > > The system under which the Iowa prairie evolved was one of random > catastrophic events, the two most dramatic would have been fire or a > massive > herd of bison grazing through. We are still able to use fire as a > tool. > The bison grazing can be simulated through intensive rotational > grazing > although the bison probably only grazed randomly, perhaps on > somewhat of an > annual cycle while a cattle or sheep producer will need to maximize > his > production by repeatedly grazing throughout the year. These two > different > approaches yield different mixes of plants as certain species have > no chance > to regenerate or reseed under the modern system. > > Back to why haying is hard on prairies; anytime we start putting > schedules > into forage removal we are favoring certain species. If we maintain > these > schedules the prairie begins to shift towards a mono-crop as the > specie most > suited to that schedule dominates. We can enhance prairies through > management decisions such as when to burn, hay, or intensively graze > livestock. When making these decisions we have to be sure that our > mown > lawn instincts (which nearly everyone has) aren't dominating our > decisions. > > Looking at an Iowa landscape as a naturalist, I equate the highest > value > with the greatest diversity and number of species which is best > represented > by a true native prairie. > > Steve Swan > > -----Original Message----- > From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Donna Buell > Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 6:54 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Iowa state parks and public lands proposed for grazing > and > haying > > Would somebody please explain why haying would devastate prairie > plantings? > Are we concerned about the plants ability to go to seed? > > It seems that prairie survived for thousands of years with large > animals > grazing. The only concerns I've ever heard about grazing are where > we give > the animals unfettered access to waterways and they cause stream > bank damage > and erosion. > > Thanks, > Donna > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve & > Connie Swan > Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 10:22 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Iowa state parks and public lands proposed for grazing > and > haying > > A lot of the interstate right of ways in Iowa have been involved in > great > prairie restoration projects which would be devastated by haying and > need no > mowing. > > Steve Swan > > -----Original Message----- > From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jerry Neff > Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 6:09 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Iowa state parks and public lands proposed for grazing > and > haying > > I do not want our state parks to be pastures. Except for safety > concerns, I > have > always felt that right of way along interstates should be used to > harvest > something useful like hay. Nebraska allows farmers to bale hay along > I-80. > Maybe > the state could rent the land to the farmers so instead of spending > money to > mow > they could have an income from the land. One down side is that so many > farmers > now a days do not have livestock and thus no need for hay. Jerry N > > > ---------------------- Original Message: --------------------- > From: Donna Buell <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Iowa state parks and public lands proposed for grazing > and > haying > Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2008 23:36:02 +0000 > >> If we had the farm animals in pastures where they belonged, the >> pasture grasses would still be there for the livestock to eat. And >> they would have soaked up lots of water that flooded instead. >> >> >> Donna >> >> >> >> On Jul 7, 2008, at 5:59 PM, Cindy Hildebrand wrote: >> >>> Per below, the issues range from habitat degradation to the >>> spreading of invasive exotics via seeds in cattle manure and >>> contaminated haying equipment. >>> >>> Cindy >>> >>> *** >>> Iowa official: Open state land for haying, grazing >>> Monday July 7, 2:04 pm ET >>> AP >>> Iowa Ag Secretary Northey asks Culver to open state lands for >>> haying, grazing to aid producers >>> >>> DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey >>> wants to consider using state parks, roadside right of ways and >>> medians for haying and grazing. >>> >>> Northey says opening the land could help livestock producers who are >>> struggling with record feed prices. >>> >>> In a request sent to Gov. Chet Culver on Monday, Northey says that >>> it won't be a "silver bullet" but the move could help producers. >>> >>> Culver's office is reviewing the letter, which was also sent to the >>> Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of >>> Transportation. A spokesman for Northey says the secretary doesn't >>> know how much land the request entails. >>> *** >>> >>> Cindy Hildebrand >>> [log in to unmask] >>> Ames, IA 50010 >>> >>> "Today in these fields the fruit of several species of milkweed hang >>> unopened, still green, but a little later the silken coma and the >>> bright linings of the pods will bring pleasure to many >>> eyes." (Selden Lincoln Whitcomb describing Grinnell, Iowa in 1907) >>> >>> >>> >>> Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient >>> used cars. >>> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To >>> unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: >> [log in to unmask] >>> Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: >> http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp >>> Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. >>> Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and >>> activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at >> http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/ >> >> >> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >> To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: >> [log in to unmask] >> >> Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: >> http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp >> >> Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship >> e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's >> latest news and activities. 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