""Curing describes the natural process of **grasss enescence and drying out** of grass fuel beds(McArthur 1966; Cheney and Sullivan 2008). Asa quantitative measure, it describes the proportion of dead material within a grassland (Kidnieet al. 2015). Grass species in temperate and dry climates where fires occur typically exhibit **annual cyclic growth** and development pattern, with the individual plants growing and senescingin relative unison. Annual grasses complete their entire** life cycle** in 1 year, flowering, seeding, and then senescing at the end of the productiveseason. Perennial grasses can survive for more than one season; however, they commonly also undergo a process of ***dieback after producing seed***. The degree of dieback is dependent on seasonal conditions and species, and can vary between little change and the complete death of the above ground stems, whereby a plant survives as subterranean organs that later resprout (Albaniand Coupland 2010). Curing influences how vegetation acts as fuel – in particular, by changing moisture content of fuel particles (Cruz et al.2015). This can have a major influence on the behavior of grassfires, even in areas like western Canada during the winter (Alexander et al. 2013).© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019S. L. Manzello (ed.), Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51727-8_238-1

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Note added at 3 hrs (2024-02-25 19:28:28 GMT)
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Another source.... https://www.weather.gov/media/dmx/FireWx/CuringGuide2022.pdf "The Green-up and Curing Processes
Most native, crop, and pasture species develop through a life cycle in which
the plant annually greens up in the spring, matures during the summer,
dries out in the late summer or fall, then dies or becomes dormant.*** This annual drying process is termed curing***, and this how fuel is created which
generates the potential for grassland fires..
During spring, above-ground plant material is cured from the prior growing
season. As temperatures warm, roots are stimulated to begin a period of
new growth known as green-up. Growth continues through the summer
and is normally completed in the fall, depending on rainfall and temperatures. As plants reach maturity and the period of growth is completed,
plants begin to lose their ability to draw moisture from the soil. Thus during
the late summer and fall, **plants lose much of their moisture and become
cured***, and this vegetation persists until green-up is well underway the following spring, completing the annual cycle.
A chart of the percentage of overall growth during the growing season in
the central United States is shown in Figure 1. For example, the total
growth of any plant during a growing season is 100%. Broken down by
month, the greatest percentage of growth for tallgrass prairie usually occurs
in June (33%), while the greatest growth for shortgrass occurs during June
through July (35%). Growth slows markedly by late summer and comes to
an end with the arrival of freezing temperatures.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2024-02-25 19:32:51 GMT)
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Main cause of fire danger here...https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=PMPOA151... ""LIFE CYCLE [Adapted from Mosley et al. in Sheley and Petroff 1999]
Cheatgrass is an annual, completing its life cycle within one growing season. Typically, it grows, flowers, develops seeds, and becomes fully dry and dies within 2-3 months.

Specifically, Cheatgrass is usually a winter annual. Seeds typically germinate in the early fall when moisture becomes sufficient. They over-winter as small seedlings. However, if the climate is warm and rainy plants continue to grow. Sometimes when the above-growth is minimal the below-growth is more substantial. Cheatgrass roots can grow at cooler temperatures then many other plants can. In the spring plants resume growth when ambient temperatures warm. A single plant can consist of 1-20 tillers and its fibrous root system occurs within the upper 12 inches of the soil profile.

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Note added at 3 hrs (2024-02-25 20:23:20 GMT)
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https://ecologicalprocesses.springeropen.com/articles/10.118... Results
The results showed no significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) in percentage CP content for all the grass species at the three **curing** periods at a given storage period (Table 1). However, there was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decline in percentage CP with storage from 24 weeks onwards for all the grass species in the three curing periods. The 2-week storage period yielded 7–8 % CP for all the grass species, while 12 and 24 weeks had 5–7 % CP and 36-week storage had less than 5 % CP. SB had the highest decline (