Controlled burns: How they affect farmers and our air

Ash in the air and smoke in your lungs can be two indications of controlled burn season.

Yuma County is a large community for its agriculture and with that, comes discarded crops.

After harvest, many of the fields are burned within the months of June, July, and August.

These controlled burns are a way to clear crop residue so farmers can prepare their field for the next crop.

Due to the recent heavy winds in and around Yuma County, the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued air quality warnings.

Jonny Malloy, an air quality meteorologist with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, works closely with NWS to keep the public informed about air quality levels.

Malloy warns to be aware if you are sensitive to these poor air quality conditions such as people with respiratory issues.

” A lot of these events that happened during controlled burns are temporary, so they don’t last too long. But when you do see the impacts the haze or wind blowing dust, it’s just important to stay out of there and reduce your exposure as much as possible, ” he said.

Encouragingly, Malloy said Yuma has not exceeded the unhealthy particle matter levels of 2.5 since 2017.

Controlled burns are beneficial to farmers around Yuma.

John Boelts, with the Arizona Farm Bureau, said wheat stubble is the most common crop involved in controlled burns.

Controlled burns put the wheat stubble into the soil, which will help the next crop be more successful.

Though plows can also help turn the stubble into the soil, this equipment can be more costly.

There are drawbacks to farmers who choose not to do a controlled burn such as bugs in the crop.

Whether you are burning a small pile of leaves in your backyard or doing a controlled burn of a field, you need to obtain a permit from Rural Metro.

These permits come with a small fee and can be obtained for one time, a month or longer.

Before a controlled burn, farmers or homeowners must call Rural Metro to report the burn.

According to Rural Metro, if a valid permit is obtained, burning hours are no earlier than one hour after sunrise and the fire must be extinguished by 4 p.m.

Officials say wheat field stubble burning is not allowed within a half-mile from any subdivision.

To obtain a permit, an application must be completed with certain information including property address, legal description, material to be burned, how the material is collected, quantity to be burned, fire controls available, and length permit is requested for.

You also must have the mechanical or liquid means to be able to extinguish the burn.

Rural Metro can also call off burn days based on weather conditions such as wind and inversion layers, or how the wind is moving up and down.

Boelts said it is common for people in the community to call in if they see smoke. This makes following guidelines in the controlled burn process important.