Canadian study finds cattle can help in the battle against wildfire
As in many countries in the summer months, wildfires are a worry in Canada. A pilot project in British Columbia suggests that letting cattle graze on grassland can help lower the risk of fire and slow the spread of fires that do break out.
Researchers began to study the impact of cows on drying grasslands in 2019. They set up a series of special covers on small areas of pasture at a British Columbia farm, making it impossible for the cows to eat the grass in those specific areas. When the farmer, Keith Manders, moved the cattle to a new pasture, the researchers uncovered the areas they had selected and compared the condition of the grass there with the condition of the rest of the grass in the same field, the areas that the cattle had grazed on.
They found that grass in the areas grazed by cattle stayed greener for longer. This, and their inevitably shorter length, can make them less at risk from wildfire. Studies showed the height of the grass to be 34% lower and for the biomass content to be down by 25%.
Both of these factors mean grazed land offers less fuel and will slow the spread of wildfires, the researchers said.
