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Yesterday we looked into the sky. A strange haze hung in the air that smelled faintly like smoke. We turned on the news to see that it was from the wildfires burning 3,000 miles away.
Farm fires aren’t a popular topic – nobody likes to imagine “what if.” For example, what if a fire takes out a barn, machinery shed, home or grain elevator?
The first puffs of black smoke can drive fear into the heart of the most hardened cattle rancher. Wildfire season has morphed into a year-round issue for many farms and ranches in the Western U.S. The reasons why can be up for debate, but the bottom line is that cattle ranchers need to have a wildfire preparedness plan that can be implemented at a moment’s notice. This includes planning for watering your herd when wildfires strike.
It is 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and the hay is just finally dry enough to bale. On the first round in the field, my pocket vibrates just as my radio sitting in the cup holders starts to blast; it must be bad news.
Huge orange flames and billowing black smoke – it's a fire on the land! Hearing those words, most of us probably feel fear for our families and our homes, and for our livestock and our land. We've all seen the scary images of wildfires burning out of control. No one wants to experience that. But, do these events mean all fire is bad for the land?
Fires on farms and in farm buildings are on the rise. Unfortunately, when a fire breaks out on a farm, it is often too late to put it out, increasing the damages and loss.
From 2008-14, there was a total of 1,163 agricultural-structure fire incidents in Ontario, resulting in financial losses totaling more than $200 million.
There was an almost 50-50 response to Progressive Cattleman’s most recent online poll, “Has your operation ever been affected by a natural disaster (flood, fire, hurricane, etc.)?”
A long road ahead is probably the best way to describe the aftermath of the Anderson Creek wildfire in south central Kansas, particularly for cattle producers who have relied heavily on grazing as the main source of herd nutrition.
