Re: grass burning?

Posted by Hal/WA on April 08, 2003 at 20:52:58 from (208.8.194.17):

In Reply to: grass burning? posted by Randy on April 08, 2003 at 10:48:03:

Is it customary for people to burn off grassland in your area? And is it legal? I would ask someone who really knows what they are talking about--you really could be setting yourself up for terrible legal difficulties.

In my area, one of the main cash crops has been Kentucky bluegrass seed. It is a nearly ideal crop for this area, because the rainfall and other climate allows very good seed production on dryland plots. And since much of the ground is fairly steep hills, grass sod is very effective at controlling the very bad soil erosion that results after tillage as is done for wheat. Years ago farmers discovered that if you burn the straw from grass seed combining in the field, that the grass is stimulated to produce much more seed--like 4 times as much yield. Burning also killed weeds and their seeds and cut down on bugs and plant diseases, as well as getting rid of the grass straw. It became nearly "no till" farming much earlier than anyone ever considered such farming for conventional grains. Burning seemed like the ideal solution.

So a few days a year, the grass farmers would burn their fields. They always had an unplanted and plowed perimeter around every field as a fire break. I never measured, but I would guess about 15 feet. Many of the farmers owned fire trucks, either factory or farm built and set up to control a grass fire, if it got a bit out of control. To start the fires, they had torches that would light the fire along the edge of the firebreak and they would drive along the edge and light the whole perimeter at once.

This always seemed kind of scary to me, since the burning was done in August and September, when it is extremely dry around here. But in all the years of burning, I never heard of one of these controlled burns getting away from the farmers bad enough that the fire department had to be called for help. A key to this was that the straw was right on the ground, not sticking up much at all. The farmers also chose days when there was little or no wind.

But the fires made smoke and unfortunately at times the smoke drifted into the populated areas around Spokane. A few very vocal city people complained and there were court cases and eventually laws that prohibited the grass farmers from burning at all. This has really put a crimp on what was a thriving industry and more than a few farmers have gone bankrupt. Your costs are the same or higher, but you get about 25% of the previous yield. Very few of the families that have or had small to medium sized farms have anyone from the next generation considering farming as their future.

The way it is set up here, the state can fine a farmer big time for burning. Many thousands of dollars. So no one burns anymore.

Obviously I do not think this is right. But it is the LAW.

I would check things out in your area before you ever start a fire. Check with the fire department, the county sheriff, air pollution control authority (if you are unlucky enough to have it), and most importantly your neighbors. You may need a permit or authorization. 5 acres is enough area to put up a large amount of smoke and if your neighbors are not aware of the controlled burn, they WILL call the fire department and will probably be mad at you. You could be liable for the costs of the fire department's response.

And if the fire got away from you..... It could cost you everything. I would talk to a lawyer and make sure your liability insurance covers you.

If the grass is standing, it will burn much faster and hotter and would have a much greater chance of getting away from you. I would mow it before I burned.

Please be darned careful. Good luck.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: grass burning? Randy 05:17:21 04/09/03 (0)

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