Crop Residue Burn

It's harvest time, and a lot of farmers and ranchers will be burning off crop residue in the next few weeks.

Kelsey Brizendine with the B-L-M says there are some things you should keep in mind before they start the burn...

Burning is one way to dispose of the straw left after harvest so fields can be made ready for seeding the following spring.

However, some farmers find it difficult to deal with excess material in the normal ways. For example, a bumper crop can leave a tremendous amount of excess material, which can be very difficult to work into the soil or spread evenly across the field. Rainy weather after harvest can leave fields too wet to till.

Burning excess material is considered a low-cost solution alternative to tilling in the excess material. Under such circumstances, farmers may feel they have no choice but to burn.

The majority of farmers do not burn. They prefer to handle excess material in other ways, for example, by tilling it into the soil, and by chopping and spreading it so it does not plug up seeding equipment.

She also remind everyone - for the most part across the West, it has been a very hot and dry summer, and there has been hardly any rainfall to reduce fire danger.