Herd of neighbor's cattle being contract grazed in September 1996 on the Zietsman farm. The foreground was strip grazed the previous day; the background strip will be grazed the next day. Notice dense forage in the background, visible over the cattle's backs, and excellent ground cover on the grazed area.

Fire could remove standing dead growth in time for the rains, but it leaves the ground bare and vulnerable to erosion, pollutes the air with valuable nutrients, and tends to reduce biodiversity. Nor will fire break soil crusts to allow water to soak in and seeds to sprout, or produce beef to generate farm income.