Devastating damage for livestock owners across southwest Idaho is prompting land and fire managers from multiple agencies to declare this year’s fire season the worst in over two decades.

Tyrell sits down with John R. Erickson, author of the beloved Hank the Cowdog book series, for a meandering and insightful conversation about the animals we live and work with, recovering after wildfires and educating the public about livestock agriculture. 

Wildfires were a fact of life growing up, especially out West. I’d see bulletins come across the news – 50,000 acres, 100,000 acres, gone. I’d shake my head, think “That’s too bad” and go about my day. I think, from now on, I will view these events with a little more compassion.

“The bottom line is,” says Mike Thornton, “if you have a lot of smoke, you can expect potatoes to be less productive, especially top-grade potatoes.” He found that yield in the smoke-treated plots dropped 2% to 3% each year.

Exposure to wildfire smoke might elicit an inflammatory response, potentially leading to reduced cattle performance.

In 2006, our little community experienced one of these power outage baby booms. The 2006 baby boom left quite a mark on our neighborhood.