Hire help

If you run ground in Kansas and you do not live on it, or you just took it on, the usual problem is simple. Cedar is coming in, the fence is down, the weeds are up, and you do not know who to call.

This list is for anyone who looks after the ground. That includes people who own it, rent it, lease it, or manage it for family.

HirePlains is a starting list. It is not an endorsement. A listing does not get a verified badge until that operator claims it. Call, ask the questions on the job page, and get the work in writing.

Before you hire

• Walk the place, or have someone send current photos. "Forty acres of cedar" can mean a few trees or a closed canopy.
• Know the county. Burn rules and who to notify are local.
• Ask for insurance when the job uses machines, fire, or chemicals.
• Write down the acres or the miles, what is included, who buys materials, and when they can start.
• If you live away from the ground, name a local person the crew can call when a gate is locked.

Clearing cedar and brush

Eastern red cedar is the common problem in central Kansas pasture. Mulching leaves chips and can be done in more months of the year. Piling takes a burn day and a cleanup plan. Hedge and honey locust grow back if you only cut the stump. Say which trees stay: creek shade, a windbreak, the homestead.

Cedar and brush clearing contractors, with questions to ask.

Prescribed burns

Ranchers burn pasture in Kansas to knock back cedar and brush and to manage grass. Hiring it done is ordinary. Lighting it with no plan is how hay, pasture, and a neighbor's place get burned. This page is about hiring. It is not a set of steps for setting a fire yourself.

Two ways to get a burn done:

1. Hire a contractor from the burn list.
2. Ask about a local Prescribed Burn Association. These are groups of people who run the ground. Members share labor and equipment and burn each other's places on days when the weather is right. They are common in the Flint Hills and in other parts of Kansas, including the Gyp Hills. Your county conservation district or the local K-State Research and Extension office can tell you if one covers your county. The Kansas Prescribed Fire Council is the statewide group that works with them.

Confirm who notifies the county and the fire department, who carries insurance, and what weather cancels the day. Do not treat a burn date as firm until the crew says the weather is right. In the Flint Hills, most pasture burning is in the spring, and the window is short.

Fencing

Budget the fence line, not just the wire. Brush on the line, creek crossings, and corners cost more than a straight run of T-posts. If the old fence is buried in cedar, a fencing crew may want the line cleared first. Some contractors do both. The listing shows both jobs when a public source said so.

Ranch fence builders.

Spraying

Spray is for weeds and brush the label covers. It is a poor match for a pasture already full of big cedar. Ask if the applicator does pasture work or only row crops, and ask for their Kansas pesticide business license. An airplane covers rough ground a ground rig cannot. A ground rig is easier to keep inside a small patch.

Pasture spraying contractors.

If a listing is wrong

Businesses close, change phones, and change what they do. If a number is dead, use List your business to say so. Operators can claim, correct, or remove a listing. There is no charge to be listed.