Why burn fields

Native Americans also used prescribed burns to manage grasslands long before we started farming in Iowa. Native Americans saw the improved plant growth after a fire and how the animals they hunted gravitated to this new growth. They used fire to manage the grasslands and ensure the herd health of the animals they hunted. Prescribed burns or controlled burns are effective because they are controlled. Land managers set fires in the spring when the ground is still wet and there is high humidity.

This makes the fire easy to control and direct. It is also important to pick a day with very little wind. Too much wind can make the fire large and uncontrollable. Land owners doing prescribed burns are careful to never leave them unattended.

They carefully monitor the fire in progress. They often work with the local fire department to ensure the fire stays under control. And of course they are sure to obtain the appropriate permissions and permits necessary to do prescribed burns.

While fire might initially cause ugly, charred pieces of land, it is an important tool to create lush, rich vegetation. Interesting article, thank you.

I do think it needs to go into the down sides of burning, however. Needless to say, I am not a fan of burning in these amounts anywhere, but especially near large populations of people. Like Like. Interesting indeed, however, as far as putting essential nutrients back into the soil, how does burning the matter, instead of allowing it to decompose naturally happen?

Letting plants decompose naturally is a great idea. However, the dead plants mostly only decompose when they come in direct contact with microorganisms living in the soil. The plant has to fall over and be integrated into the soil to really decompose well.

So dead plants that stay standing upright take a very long time to decompose — multiple years. Think about grasses that even when dead stay standing up. This allows the amount of available plant matter to burn to increase year after year. Then if there is a fire accidentally it will burn uncontrollably and cause a lot more damage. When good growing conditions occur plenty of moisture and heat , grain crops are heavier than usual, so plenty of straw can be left after harvest.

As well, heavy summer rains can leave fields too wet to till as was the case in A late harvest can further complicate matters, leaving less time for farmers to till their fields before freeze-up.

With a late harvest season, farmers are often concerned that they will not be able to complete proper tillage operations in the fall. As a result, many choose burning as a residue management option. In Manitoba, our crop production season is incredibly variable from one year to the next.

For example, one year producers may have their crops seeded early and harvest may be well underway by mid-August. In other years crops may be seeded late or weather conditions may be such cooler than normal temperatures , that harvest is delayed into late October and early November.

This variability that exists within any growing season puts pressures on producers to complete their work as quickly as possible. There are general community perceptions that the carbon C component in stubbles is lost by burning and that the process of burning stubbles even occasionally, seriously affects the organic carbon levels of the soil. Losses of carbon as CO 2 to the atmosphere through burning are often only slightly greater than through natural decomposition, but they are of course immediate.

After harvest, a 3. This nutrient loss is well understood by land managers and strongly influences decisions not to burn, except under extreme circumstances. Wimmera and Mallee transect surveys indicate a downward trend in the amount of stubble being burnt. While there can be exceptional years when above-average biomass production creates extra challenges for land managers, soil health messages delivered throughout Victoria by Agriculture Victoria and others are generating real practice change with a strong trend toward adoption of minimum or no-till, stubble retention and precision agriculture practices.

Crops and horticulture The Big Victorian Harvest Cannabis in Victoria Grains, pulses and cereals Grains and other crops Crop production General agronomy Victorian crop sowing guide Estimating crop yields and crop losses Identifying cereal seedlings Decimal growth scale of cereals A brief guide to estimating crop yields Stubble burning Understanding and managing brome grass High rainfall cropping Growing more crops from less rain Monitoring soil moisture in dryland cropping areas Growing grains, pulses and cereals Pastures and hay CropSafe program Fruit and nuts Poppies Wine and grapes Vegetables.

Key points The key points of stubble burning are: Stubble management is one of many complex issues that farmers must contend with. There is no single, 'one-size-fits-all' solution for managing heavy stubbles.