Wildfires

Drought Conditions Intensify Threat Of Field And Combine Fires

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 19:57:26 GMT

High temperatures and low humidity across the eastern and western Corn Belt this past week have increased the risks for field and combine fires as harvest ramps up across the country.

With the dry conditions, Ken Ferrie encourages everyone to have plans A and B in place, ready to implement if fire occurs.

“If your plan A is to call the fire department, remember, in rural America, most of our great volunteer firemen are running their own combines, so response time is a challenge,” he says.

While Ferrie believes you – or someone on your team – needs to call the fire department or 911 to get help, he says to consider making containment your Plan A.

In the case of a field fire, keep a tillage tool or spray tender nearby. “Have it in the field with you ready to go,” he advises.

Crops that are extremely dry coupled with even a bit of wind can set up a fast-moving scenario you need to snuff out quickly. Time is of the essence, as a fire can double in size within a mere minute or two.

“That situation won’t wait for you to go home, find a tractor, dig out a tillage tool or stick a hose in your spray tender and get to your field,” Ferrie says. “You won’t have the time to do that.”

A fully engulfed corn crib fire spread to nearby fields in Foosland this Friday.
📸: Mackenzie Wichtnerhttps://t.co/XkFERxHVf6 pic.twitter.com/1sG1uVVlMW
— WICS ABC 20 (@wics_abc20) September 19, 2025

In case of a combine fire, turn off the engine, get away from the machine, and phone for help.

Then, attack with fire extinguishers if it is safe to do so, advises Joshua Michel, Iowa State University field agronomist, in an online article .

“Try to fight from the ‘black,’ the area already burned,” Michel says. “Attacking a fire from areas with combustibles (e.g. dry corn stalks) is much riskier. Always stay upwind of a fire to minimize the risk of exposure from smoke, heat and possible flames.”

Keeping a shovel on the combine to throw dirt on a fire can also help.

Five Practical Steps To Be Ready For A Fire

Here are five additional things you can do to address a fire or prevent one from occurring this harvest:

1. As you combine fields, Ferrie says to keep in mind the wind direction. “Combine downwind, if possible, on windy days so if we have a combine fire it burns away from the crop,” he advises.

2. Have a daily maintenance plan for your equipment, including blowing off chaff and debris, properly lubricating chains/bearings, and cleaning up spills, advises Ohio State University Extension (OSU).

“The majority of harvester fires start in the engine compartment. Contributing factors for heat sources include faulty wiring, over-heated bearings, leaking fuel or hydraulic oil,” report Wayne Dellinger and Dee Jepsen at OSU, in this online article .

3. Have two ABC-rated fire extinguishers on hand. Keep a smaller 10-pound unit in the cab and a larger 20-pound extinguisher at ground level on the combine. Keeping an extra fire extinguisher on other pieces of machinery or trucks that are out in the field is also a good idea.

4. Invert the fire extinguisher once or twice during the season to ensure that machine vibrations don’t compact the powder inside.

5. Review your fire emergency plan with family and employees. As part of that, create a list with the 911 addresses for each of your field locations prior to harvest and have them easily accessible to family members and farm employees, Michel encourages. When a fire is called in with a 911 address, dispatch can more readily identify the incident location and relay this information to the fire department. This can save precious time as some fields may be in remote locations.

Your next read: 5 Critical Insights From The Southern Rust Rampage In Midwest Corn

USDA Expedites $16 Billion in Disaster Aid Payments: What Crop Farmers Need to Know

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 20:40:14 GMT

It’s the largest portion of the $21 billion in disaster aid approved by Congress at the end of 2024. And this week, USDA announced farmers will be able to start signing up for $16 billion in disaster aid payments starting this week through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP).

The disaster aid was approved by Congress as part of the continuing resolution in December. On Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can start applying for the $16 billion in assistance starting July 10. This is in addition to the $1 billion in livestock disaster aid already announced by USDA .

USDA says in order to expedite the process, its Farm Service Agency (FSA) will deliver the assistance in two stages.

Stage One: This is open to producers with eligible crop losses that received assistance under crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance program (NAP) during 2023 and 2024. USDA says those sign-ups will start in person at local FSA offices July 10. Prefilled applications are also being mailed to producers starting today.
Stage Two: Those sign-ups that apply to eligible shallow or uncovered losses will begin in early fall.

USDA says FSA is launching a streamlined, prefilled application process for eligible crop, tree and vine losses by leveraging existing NAP and Risk Management Agency indemnified loss data. The prefilled applications, which is part of stage one, is what is being mailed now.

“American farmers are no stranger to natural disasters that cause losses that leave no region or crop unscathed. Under President Trump’s leadership, USDA has worked around the clock to deliver this relief directly to our farmers,” said Secretary Rollins in a statement. “We are taking swift action to ensure farmers will have the resources they need to continue to produce the safest, most reliable and most abundant food supply in the world.”

Who’s Eligible?
Under the latest program, producers who suffered losses due to natural disasters in the 2023 and/or 2024 years are eligible. The disasters include wildfires, hurricanes, floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, winter storms, freeze (including a polar vortex), smoke exposure, excessive moisture, qualifying drought and related conditions.

When it comes to drought, USDA says the producer’s county must have been rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2 (severe drought) for eight consecutive weeks, D3 (extreme drought) or greater intensity level during the applicable calendar year.

What’s Next?
Once those payments are released, USDA’s final phase of the American Relief Act will be another emergency livestock relief program, but this covers flood losses producers saw in 2023 and 2024.

Appleton says that’s been the most difficult program to outline and detail, as USDA has never administered a disaster program for livestock that covered losses due to flooding.

“We’ve never had a disaster program for livestock that was triggered on flooding, so that piece of it is going to take us a little bit longer,” USDA deputy undersecretary Brooke Appleton told Farm Journal last month. “As these programs are ready to roll out, we’re focused on doing it as soon as we can, rather than holding them all and doing it all at once. We want to make sure as soon is the assistance is ready to go, we are getting it out and getting it to the folks who need it.”

USDA says it is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act 2025. On May 7, it launched its 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant roll out timeline can be tracked.

When Farmers Can Expect the Next Round of American Relief Act Payments

Tue, 03 Jun 2025 13:51:10 GMT

USDA is currently in the trenches of issuing the nearly $31 billion in total disaster and emergency relief aid to farmers and ranchers in four stages. That money was appropriated by Congress as part of the American Relief Act, which was passed in December of 2024. In an exclusive interview with Farm Journal on Monday, USDA Deputy Undersecretary Brooke Appleton said the next round of disaster aid payments could be coming the first full week of July.

USDA began issuing the $1 billion in emergency livestock relief program payments last week, which is the latest in a series of disaster and emergency relief. Appleton told Farm Journal that instead of holding the money and issuing it all at once, USDA decided to issue the payments in four phases, as USDA wanted to get assistance out to producers as quickly as possible.

“We had ECAP (Emergency Commodity Assistance Program) , we now have the Emergency Livestock Relief Program, we’re going to have supplemental disaster relief, and then we’re going to have another emergency livestock relief program to cover the flood losses that we saw in ‘23 and ’24,” Appleton said. “So, we’re kind of doing it in stages, it should stream out all through the summer really, and so I’m hoping that that kind of can relieve some of that financial stress.”

Appleton said USDA has issued $7.7 billion out of the appropriated $10 billion in direct payments under ECAP so far, which was the first stage of payments. Sign-ups for that program began in March. USDA initially issued 85% of a producer’s projected payment, with the remaining 15% expected after sign-ups close on Aug. 15.

Just last week, USDA announced the details surrounding $1 billion in Emergency Livestock Relief Program payments , which is the second phase of the American Relief Act. Those payments are being dispersed now, and it covers grazing losses due to eligible drought or wildfire events that happened in 2023 and 2024. That round of the program doesn’t require producers to sign up, as USDA is using existing information. Since the program was announced on May 29, USDA says it’s dispersed more than $641 million in payments to livestock producers who suffered grazing losses during that time.

“FSA is leveraging existing livestock forage disaster program data to streamline these payments and calculations to expedite that relief. So this was unlike most of our programs, farmers and ranchers didn’t have to go into the office to sign up,” Appleton said. “We already have the information. So those emergency relief payments were automatically issued to producers who had already had their data into their FSA office. And those payments started going out in earnest last week, so May 30.”

The next round of American Relief Act disaster aid payments is the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, which is the larger amount appropriated by Congress. Appleton told Farm Journal details surrounding those payments are being prepared now, and USDA expects to issue those payments next month. The amount of money that will go out during the next round isn’t known at this time, as a USDA official says the agency is still “working diligently to balance the needs with the available funding.”

“The larger supplemental disaster program that is part of that is making its way through the process right now at USDA and other government agencies,” Appleton said. “The timeline for that, we’re targeting to sign up farmers by the first full week in July, so maybe the week of July 7. That will be literally every crop production loss that has happened for ‘23 and ’24, and that’s just additional disaster assistance that was legislated by Congress.”

Once those payments are released, USDA’s final phase of the American Relief Act will be another emergency livestock relief program, but this covers flood losses producers saw in 2023 and 2024.

Appleton says that’s been the most difficult program to outline and detail, as USDA has never administered a disaster program for livestock that covered losses due to flooding.

“We’ve never had a disaster program for livestock that triggered on flooding, so that piece of it is going to take us a little bit longer,” she said. “And that’s something that’s another piece of this larger disaster package. It’s going to roll out later this summer, but as these programs are ready to go and ready to roll out, we’re focused on doing it as soon as we can, rather than holding them all and doing it all at once. We want to make sure as soon is the assistance is ready to go, we are getting it out and we’re getting it to the folks who need it.”

Congress earmarked $2 billion for livestock losses due to droughts, wildfires and floods. The first livestock disaster aid announced last week totaled $1 billion, which means another $1 billion should be dispersed through the livestock disaster payments that cover losses due to flooding.

USDA says it is fully committed to expediting remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act 2025. On May 7, it launched its 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page where the status of USDA disaster assistance and block grant rollout timeline can be tracked.

Rollins Says USDA Will Announce Application Process for $21 Billion in Disaster Aid Within Days

Wed, 07 May 2025 21:41:51 GMT

In her first hearing on Capitol Hill since the confirmation process earlier this year, Secretary Brooke Rollins faced the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, fielding questions on everything from USDA’s bold budget cuts and frozen funding to the fate of the nearly $21 billion in disaster aid.

Rollins fiercely defended the cuts, continuing to argue that it is a way to make USDA more effective and more efficient. She also told the committee that farmers will be able to sign up for the disaster aid by the end of May.

Congress approved the disaster aid on Dec. 21, 2024. While the $10 billion in Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) was passed the same day, it was separate and came with a clear deadline on when USDA had to disperse those funds. In the hearing this week, Rollins admitted the disaster aid program has been more complicated to roll out.

“That one’s a little more complicated than the ECAP, the disaster or the emergency relief payments, but we’re really close and within a matter of days or weeks, certainly by the end of this month, that money will begin moving,” Rollins said on Tuesday.

The nearly $21 billion in disaster aid targets agricultural losses from natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, which includes:

Droughts
Hurricanes
Floods
Wildfires
And other extreme weather events.

Of those funds, $2 billion is earmarked for livestock losses attributed to droughts wildfires and floods. There is also an allocation of $220 million that will be distributed through block grants to smaller agricultural states with limited farm income and acreage.

“We are within days of announcing the application process,” Rollins said. “Of course, that’s a little more complicated because we don’t have the specifics, and it isn’t, as [Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.] mentioned, in North Dakota, 15,794 of your farmers and ranchers have received money through that first tranche, through the first $10 billion, the emergency aid. On the weather-related programs, that application opens in the next week or two. And we will be moving very, very quickly.”

.@SecRollins testifies before Congress: "When farmers prosper, rural America prospers." pic.twitter.com/rXwV12JPDD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 6, 2025

According to Pro Farmer, the disaster aid is intended to cover losses in revenue, production quality, and infrastructure for crops, livestock and timber. And most of the aid is expected to be administered through USDA’s Emergency Relief Program (ERP), which has been used for similar disaster relief in previous years. However, USDA has indicated the new program will be more farmer-friendly than the Biden administration’s implementation of the last ag disaster funds.

Rollins says the rollout of the disaster aid funds is “a long time coming,” bacause it is related to disasters that happened as long as two years ago.

“And so ensuring that we get that out as quickly as we possibly can with the team that we have in place,” Rollins said. “I’m really proud of, I believe, how efficiently and how quickly the team moved out that first tranche. And I believe that you’ll see the same sort of efficiency and effectiveness with the second tranche, so it’s within the coming weeks.”

Rollins Fiercely Defends Cuts at USDA

Also in the hearing, Rollins defended recent budget and DOGE cuts, saying her team is eliminating what she called wasteful DEI spending, fraud and abuse in all USDA programs. She argued the plan is to rebuild USDA to put farmers first.

Rollins also discussed some frozen funds at the agency and when a review of them will be completed.

“We are working around the clock, going line by line, we’re down to the final 5 billion out of, I believe, almost 20 billion of frozen funds, but $5 billion is a lot of money,” Rollins said. “And when you think about that in terms of grant or contract and moving that out quickly, we’re very helpful to keep moving through that very, very quickly and have that done very soon.”

Rollins was also asked about the 15,000 USDA employees who have taken buyout offers from the federal government . Reports show that accounts for nearly USDA’s total workforece, and impacts farmer-facing agencies such as Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency.

“The 15,000 number, it is less than 15% of our total workforce,” Rollins said. “I realize that’s still a very, very big number. But I think it’s important to realize in the context that every year USDA, through attrition loses between 8,000 and 10,000 employees. So, it’s a massive government agency, but they’re refilled. Well, and that’s what we are looking to refill. The front liners, that’s I was talking about right now. So whether it’s FSA, APHIS, the Wildland Firefighters, those are through a memorandum I just signed, we are actively looking and recruiting to fill those positions that are integral to the efforts and the key front line.”

Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., followed up and asked, “So, you let people go, and you’re looking for new people to fill the positions that they had experienced in?”

“We’re having those discussions right now,” Rollins said. “We are working with all of you around the country, in your states. We believe our firefighters are operationally ready for wildfire season. Our FSA offices, we are making things more efficient, but bringing on new people that could potentially be a game changer in those offices.”

The workforce reduction is part of the federal government’s current Deferred Resignation Program (DRP), which is the voluntary program that allows eligible federal employees to resign in advance while continuing to receive pay and benefits until Sept. 30.

Rollins then clarified and explained the 15,000 USDA employees who accepted the buyouts, weren’t employees who were fired, they were resignations.

“None of those people were fired,” she added. “So, if they want to come back, and if they were in a key position, then we would love to have that conversation.”

Rollins said the latest round of DRPs, which happened in April, USDA didn’t accept some of the resignations, specifically if those employees were in what Rollins called “key positions,” which includes APHIS, FSA, etc.

“We are very intentionally approaching this,” she said. “Have we done it perfectly? No. Any type of whole scale change, and big effort to basically realign an entire government agency is difficult. And we know that, and we know it hasn’t been perfect, but we’re working every day to solve for a lot of this, and I think we’re making a lot of really good progress.”

USDA Spends $400 Million a Day on Food Assistance Programs

The other hot button topic during the hearing was food assistance. The secretary pointed out USDA spends more than $400 million a day on food assistance programs and said ending COVID-era funding programs doesn’t mean defunding food assistance.

You can listen to her pointed comments in the video below.

USDA alone spends $400+ MILLION each day on food assistance programs.

Ending COVID-era funding programs doesn’t defund food assistance. It ensures we’re good stewards of taxpayer dollars. pic.twitter.com/3lT7Fu6or9
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 6, 2025

Ferrie: Dry, Dusty Harvest Calls For A Fire Contingency Plan

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 00:59:23 GMT

Soybean crops are fast disappearing across Illinois, as combines roll through fields finishing up the 2024 harvest, says Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

One concern he has, however, is the amount of heavy dust coming out of equipment going across dry fields.

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a year with this much dust on the beans; the horizon looks like a bunch of brush fires with the amount of dust coming out of these combines,” he said on Friday during his weekly Boots In The Field podcast.

“As we finish up the beans and move to corn, everyone will need to have a contingency plan for field fires if it doesn’t rain soon,” he advises. “Combine downwind, if possible, on windy days so if we have a combine fire it burns away from the crop.”

Dry Conditions Are Extensive

While intense, heavy rains from hurricanes have lashed parts of the Southeast, the past week was extremely dry over a large majority of the contiguous 48 states, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday.

“Between 0.5” and 1.5” of rain fell on a small swath extending from west-central Illinois through southeastern Iowa last week,” the Monitor reports. “The rest of the Midwest region reported very light amounts at best, and most locations experienced a dry week with no measurable rain.”

The abnormally dry conditions can enhance the potential for combine and field fires this fall, reports Iowa State University Field Agronomist Joshua Michel. Low relative humidity levels and high winds can further increase the risk of fires.

According to the state’s Department of Natural Resources, Iowa is seeing dry conditions for this fall with relative humidity dropping down to dangerous levels for wildfires and ignition sources in the fields. Higher afternoon temperatures are also expected with the National Weather Service issuing both Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches across Iowa.

“All it takes to start a fire is a single high-temperature source in the engine area or an overheated bearing to ignite some dry plant material,” Michel reports in an online article.

Practical Steps To Prevent Fire

Keeping combine engine compartments free of debris, checking air filters, coolant and oil levels daily can help minimize the potential for a machinery fire. Removing plant materials wrapped on or near any bearings, belts, chains, or other moving parts can also help.

Michel offers additional recommendations here: Fire Prevention Tips During Harvest

Ferrie advises farmers to put together a contingency plan to prevent fires from occurring as well as a plan for steps to take if one does start.

“Having a tillage tool hooked up and ready to go is one idea, plus your crew needs to know what to do in case a fire happens,” he says.

Get Ferrie’s updates on harvest and agronomic issues he’s following in the podcast, here: Boots In The Field Report October 11, 2024

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Oregon Ranchers Are Continuing to Battle Grueling Wildfires as Financial Losses Mount

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 17:11:49 GMT

As of Friday, more than 1.1 million acres has burned in Oregon. Lightning continues to spark new fires and with the flames still not under control, it will go down as one of the most devastating wildfire fires in the state’s history.

Clint Sexson ranches in eastern Oregon. He says between cattle lost and grazing areas burned, it’s been a grueling summer. The exact livestock losses are unknown at this time.

“I don’t even want to speculate,” Sexson says. “I mean, the one that’s pretty public is that the 300 head in the Durkee Fire that were lost,” Sexson says. “I know one producer who has lost probably hundreds.”

That particular fire, the Durkee Fire, has been a monster. At 86% contained, it’s already scorched 295,000 acres.

Plenty of Fuel for Fires

Just this week, lightning sparked more fires. Sexson says the reason the fires have been so bad is the amount of grass available to fuel the fires.

“There’s more fuel on the ground,” Sexson says. “Some of these areas have burned before. There hasn’t necessarily been a clean up after a burn, so there’s just a lot of fuel.”

A Devastating Loss of Grass to Graze

The livestock losses are heartbreaking and severe, but the amount of grass burned is causing concern in the state. As the fires rage, the losses of valuable grazing ground are mounting, which impacts livestock producers across the state.

“This part of the world is different,” Sexson says. “A lot of people don’t feed cows, but maybe 30, 60 days a year. The rest of the year, we are grazing cattle. It’s a budgetary thing and a management thing that they will have to work through. Emotionally, it’s tough on those people, especially those generational ranches.”

Sexson was fortunate. On July 20, as the fires raged and closed in on his land, he was able to get cattle out thanks to fellow ranchers who showed up with trucks and trailers.

“I work for Select Sires and every one of those trucks that showed up, they were all customers,” he says, as his voice cracks and tears fill his eyes. “We got the cattle out and right back to a customer’s feedlot. They were ready for them, and we were pretty fortunate.”

An Emotional Sale of Support

That emotion was felt late last week as Superior Livestock Auction sold special benefit lots as part of their video sale in Winnemucca, Nev. This was an example of ranchers helping ranchers. That money went to the Oregon Fire Relief Fund, which will help those producers in need.

“These are primarily purebred breeders who have made donations in sale credit or semen credit,” Sexson says. “They’re not directly focused on their customers alone. They’re just focused on the general beef industry in Oregon and the devastation some of these people are dealing with. I know two or three people who had their entire ranches burned by the fires. They may not have lost a cow, but it burnt all their private grazing ground.”

The special sale was a touching gesture, as the ranching community comes together at a time of need and the fires continue to burn. Emotions are high, losses are mounting and cattle producers impacted are feeling the financial pain.

The Canadian Wildfires Never Fully Died Down In 2023, And That's Why They're Back With A Vengeance Now

Wed, 22 May 2024 18:07:03 GMT

The wrath of wildfires is something Canada knows all too well. After a historic season, 2024 is off to an active start with some fire forecasters saying this year’s wildfire threat could rival 2023.

“2023 in Canada was a historic wildfire season by many means. We absolutely shattered all records. Millions upon millions of acres of forests were burnt,” says Matt MacDonald, the lead fire weather forecaster for the B.C. Wildfire Service.

MacDonald says those blazes burned across the country–from coast to coast, top to bottom.

“All 13 provinces and territories has significant wildfire on the landscape. And particularly here in western Canada and British Columbia, 1.8 million acres were burned last season,” says MacDonald. “So, it was a tremendous ground-shattering year. And we’re hoping we don’t see that again this year.”

Dormant Threat Under The Snow

He’s hopeful 2024 doesn’t see a repeat, however this year’s wildfire season is already off to a fierce and early start much of that due to fires leftover from 2023.

“We’re already off to a busier start than we were last year, primarily due to these holdover fires. It’s one thing to have the drought to have the dry fuels. But at least last year, we were waiting for that ignition, whereas this year, the ignition is already there. Those fires actually never went away. They just kind of went dormant under the snow.

MacDonald says the wildfire season in 2023 lasted unusually long, not dying down until early November.

“And then finally, we put snow on the landscape and there’s nothing like snow to calm a fire. But what ends up happening is these fires continue to smolder, believe it or not below the snow,” says MacDonald. “So, while it may appear white on the landscape, these fires continue to burn at root bulbs into what we call the duff layer, which is the top foot or so of soil.

He says scientists were already detecting heat signals even before the snow melted.

“And sure enough, the snow melted, we put a little bit of wind on these holdover fires, and just earlier this week we had a cold front push through the northern part of the province. The explosive growth at which these fires came back to life was truly incredible,” says MacDonald.

What’s happened in just a week’s time is astonishing. Tens of thousands of acres are scorched from a fire in British Columbia. The province of Manitoba is fighting a massive blaze that had burned more than 86,000 thousand acres late last week.

While part of the problem is fires left over from 2023, the bigger issue is a multi-year drought continuing to fuel the blazes.

“The drought is very real. It’s very, very deep. And it’s very persistent,” MacDonald explains. “So, once we get fire on the landscape, it really digs in becomes difficult to control and to respond to. And then we just end up with these massive configurations, you know, fires that grow into 10s of 1000s, and even hundreds of 1000s of acres per fire.”

MacDonald says in British Columbia, 122 wildfires are on the landscape today, 8% of which are out of control as forecasters brace for more blazes this year.

“June is really that critical month for us will really determine, you know, the severity of our fire season. But again, this this drought is just so deep and persistent that it’s hard to think you know, a few weeks, even a month worth of rain is going to wash away all our problems. I think we’re in for another act of fire season here in 2024,” he adds.

The wildfires are already causing air quality concerns in the Plains and Midwest. The fires triggered air quality alerts across the U.S. starting last week.

The Smoke Effect on Crop Yields

The wildfire smoke was a constant issue most of the summer last year; however, there was a bright spot.

“Between corn and soybeans, corn is a little more susceptible to reductions in light. The wildfire smoke came through in June when we were experiencing drought-like conditions, and a lot of crops were experiencing stress at that point,” explains Dan Quinn, Purdue University extension corn specialist. “Those reductions in light reduced leaf surface temperatures and transpiration off those plants, which alleviated some of that stress.”

A Purdue report showed despite the temporary benefit in light reduction for crops, wildfire smoke still caused other harmful effects on crops and the environment. Since wildfires emit various air pollutants to form ozone when reacting with sunlight, Quinn said the ozone can cause harm to both corn and soybeans by entering the plant through the stomata, which burns plant tissue during respiration.

Summer Precipitation and Temperature Outlook

Is the U.S. in for another dry and hot summer in 2024? The National Weather Service (NWS) Climate Prediction Center (CPC) just released its summer forecast, which is taking into account the transition from El Niño to La Niña. The CPC thinks El Niño will transition to the neutral state of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) next month. The summer outlook shows areas of the Plains and Western U.S. could see drought and dry conditions this summer, while much of the U.S. is expected to be warmer than normal.

Smoky Skies and Reduced Air Quality Return to the Midwest and Mid-South

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 19:11:18 GMT

Wildfire smoke from Canada returned to the upper Midwest and extended to the Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic this week, resulting in poor air quality in some regions along with reduced visibility.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a report on Wednesday, saying “wildfire smoke from Canada will reduce air quality over parts of the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, Western Ohio Valley, Central Appalachians, and Mid-Atlantic, prompting Air Quality Warnings over the area.”

Unhealthy levels of pollutants from the smoke spread across states in those regions including most of Michigan and Wisconsin and parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, according to tracker AirNow.gov.

The NWS is encouraging anyone with underlying lung conditions or asthma – especially children and the elderly – to limit their time outdoors in those regions affected by wildfire smoke.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) advises monitoring pets and farm animals that could also be affected by the smoke.

“If you can see or feel the effects of smoke yourself, you also should take precautions to keep your animals – both pets and livestock – safe,” the AVMA encourages.

The wildfires range from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador, and 239 were categorized by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) on Tuesday as being “out of control.”

Reuters reports that Canada is wrestling with its worst-ever start to the wildfire season, which has already burned 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres), an area a little bigger than West Virginia.

Little Concern For Crops, So Far

USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey told Farm Journal editors last week that he doesn’t believe smoke from the fires – some of which have been burning several weeks now – has had any direct impact on row crops so far.

His greater concern is the indirect impact the smoke could have on crops, especially corn. Specifically, a concentration of smoke over a period of several weeks could contribute to lower temperatures and fewer growing degree units (GDUs) because of reduced solar radiation, Rippey explains.

Sunlight is critical for corn to maximize photosynthesis and crop yield, adds Mark Jeschke, Pioneer agronomy manager, in his in-depth online article, Is Smoke from Wildfires Affecting Crop Yields?

“Among the many potential effects on crop growth (from smoke coverage) are three primary factors with the capability to directly impact photosynthesis: reduced sunlight intensity, increased sunlight diffusion, and increased ozone (O3) levels,” Jeschke writes.

“Corn, in particular, is susceptible to reduced yields and reduced standability if the plants need to remobilize carbohydrates from the stalk to make up for a deficit in photosynthesis,” he adds. “This weakens the stalks and opens the door for stalk rot pathogens.”

As California Wildfires Rage, State Leaders, Students and Veterinarians Launch Effort to Help Rescue Livestock

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 14:09:48 GMT

Western wildfires continue to rage in the West , as California’s biggest wildfire is leading to widespread evacuations of livestock. And now there are efforts underway to care for animals left behind.

The Dixie Fire is the second largest in California’s history. It has destroyed thousands of acres of rangeland, including for migratory cattle.

Leaders from the University of California-Davis, veterinarians, and California legislators have launched a new program. It’s called the “California Veterinary Emergency Team.” Their job is to help rescue livestock and domestic animals during disasters.

Students from U.C. Davis are helping out at other fires. Also right now, Farm Bureau organizations in Butte, Sierra and Plumas counties in California are partnering to help feed and maintain livestock. Similar efforts are underway in Nevada County’s River Fire.

Heat and Drought Fuels Western Wildfires as More Historic Heat Forecast for Next Week

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 17:33:24 GMT

Heat and dry conditions aren’t helping the wildfire situation in the West. Right now, 67 large fires are burning across the U.S., scorching nearly 918,000 acres in 12 states.

Taking priority, the Snake River Complex wildfire near Spokane, Washington. It actually comprises three wildfires that were all started by lighting.

California has already seen more than three times as much land burned this year than the same period last year.
The Beckwourth Complex fire is the largest burning in the state. Firefighters describing the fire situation as the most extreme.

“I’m more worried about this wind,” Bob Schoenstein, a resident of Doyle, Calif. “That fire can be on the other side of that mountain and it could embers down in the middle of this town and burn this town to the ground.”

This is a time lapse video of another wildfire.This one along the Oregon and California border. The Bootleg Wildfire has already scorched more than 200,000 acres.

Areas of smoke look to linger across the eastern Dakota's through tonight. Smoke may return from both Canadian wildfires and fires across the western U.S. on Tuesday. Those sensitive to smoke may want to be mindful of potential increases in smoke activity this week. #ndwx pic.twitter.com/8XiuYGSKH2
— NWS Bismarck (@NWSBismarck) July 12, 2021

As the fires and smoke continue to spread, the heat is making matters worse, with more historic heat forecast next week. Heat advisories and excessive-heat warnings continued to cover the weather map Tuesday from interior California to the Canadian border in eastern Washington state.The wildfire worries are also creating concerns in Canada . Farmers there are battling drought, as well, with farmers’ production outlooks waning.

John Phipps: Australia's Wildfires and the Impact on Agriculture

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:22:03 GMT

Heaven knows we’ve had plenty of fun weather the past year here in the US, but I have been watching with fascinated horror the unfolding weather-related disaster in Australia. I was stunned last month when the Australia broke its all time record national average temperature on December 17 with a reading of 40.9C or 105.6F.

The next day that record was broken again by a full degree Celsius or 107.4F. That’s the average for an entire continent only slightly smaller than the continental US. With all the coastline of Australia to moderate the heat, how hot must the interior have been to generate that number?

The heat was bad enough, but continuing drought, low humidity and winds up to 80 miles per hour have created frighteningly dangerous wildfire conditions in the south and east parts of the country especially.

Those fires are raging now and have consumed more area than the California and Amazon fires in recent years combined.

Superimposed over Europe, here is a map demonstrating the burned area and smoke extent.

The smoke from the fires is clouding the skies of New Zealand, about 1500 miles away. In Auckland, police implored people to stop calling the emergency number because the sky was dark orange.

The southeast parts of New South Wales and Queensland are crucial not only for their largely coastal population, but Australian agriculture, as you can see from this map. Unusually warm ocean currents are one proximate cause of this heat wave, but the conditions are worsened by the driest spring on record. \

This graph shows the record combination of 2019 heat and dryness, with 2018 not far behind. I’ll try to add some updates on this continuing catastrophe and its implications for this important American ally and ag competitor in future shows.

This is also a good chance to add some odd details we often forget about the Down Under. In order to properly compare it to the US on a map it should be inverted as shown here. Remember there the north is the warmest part. Australia is also much closer to the equator as you can tell in the illustration when latitudes are matched up.

And one final Australia fact I just learned myself but should have known: they see the moon upside down from our perspective.

Good luck, mates. You’ll need all you can find, I’m afraid.