Kansas Ag Secretary Mike Beam says invasive woody species are threating the health of the state’s grasslands.
He tells Brownfield research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln shows that Kansas could lose forage for 157,000 head of beef cows. “That’s hard to imagine. Right now, we need to grow our beef herd, and we’re not going to be able to do that until we get a handle on our grasslands.”
Beam says the issue surfaced after hearing concerns from some of the state’s producers. “Some of the ranchers I’ve worked with came to me and said ‘Mike, we really need some help raising the identity of grasslands and the challenges that we face.’”
He says KDA partnered with conservation districts and producers to create a working group to find ways to improve conservation on private grasslands.
The findings will be included in a report that will be released this month.
