 Welcome to the Grassland Curing Network. This presentation has been developed to assist you to make accurate grassland curing assessments. In southeastern Australia, native, crop and pasture grasses have an annual cycle where they germinate, grow, produce flowers and seeds, then either die or become dormant. The degree of curing represents the proportion of dead material in the grassland fuel. The amount of dead material can produce a very flammable environment and the degree of curing can have a significant effect on the fire danger of a region. It is important that fire management agencies have access to timely and accurate curing assessments so they can better understand the fire danger. This graph shows the three basic stages of grassland curing in the field. From 0 to 30% cured the grass is basically green and we call this the green phase. From 40 to 60% cured the grass is mostly yellow. We call this the yellow phase and from 70 to 100% cured the grass is yellow and very dry. We call this the dry phase. Let's look at the green phase. This is when the grass is between 0 and 30% cured. Here is an example of grass at 0%. As you can see the grass is all green and there are no seed heads at all. This is grass at 30% cured with some yellow showing and well-developed seed heads which are starting to drop seed. How do we pick grass at 10% and 20% cured? Here is rye grass at about 10%. As you can see the grass is basically green and the seed heads are developed. 20% cured is where the seed heads are maturing and opening. Usually at 20% there is very little yellow in the grass. Here are some photos of grasslands at 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% cured. Now let's look at the yellow phase. This is when the curing is between 40% and 60%. Here is an example of 40% cured where the yellowing is well underway. Here is an example of grass at 60% cured. As you can see half the stems have lost some of their seed. Grass at 50% cured is about half yellow, half green and is continuing to drop seed. Here are some images of fields with grass at 40%, 50% and 60% cured. Let's now look at the dry phase. This is when the grass is between 70% and 100% cured. When curing reaches this stage the drying out of the grass increases rapidly and is almost completely cured within weeks. This grass is at 70% cured. It is nearly all yellow and has dropped almost all of its seed. This is grass at almost 100% cured. As you can see it is very very dry and breaks very very easily. Now let's look at how we determine grass at 80% and 90% cured. Grass at 80% has finished shedding all its seed. There may be some green present in patches in the field or on the bottom third of the stalks. Grass at 90% has finished dropping seed and is usually either completely dry or has the odd individual green stalk. It is not fragile like grass at 100%. Here are some photos of grasslands from 70% to 100% cured. Knowledge of the grass life cycle and the curing process is important when estimating fire danger in a region. Serious grass fires are prone to occur after a good spring rain season when pastures dry quickly and are fully cured by early summer.