About a month ago, we were on our way to Lincoln when I looked out the car window to see the skies filled with smoke and the fields aglow with fire. It’s a farming practice I see every once-in-a-while…controlled burning.

Controlled burning is used in agriculture as a part of field preparation for planting or as a management practice used to improve native grasslands.

Often called field burning, this technique is used to clear the land of any existing crop residue as well as kill weeds and weed seeds. Field burning is less expensive than most other methods such as herbicides or tillage and, when done properly, control burning produces a “cool” fire that suppresses many undesirable plants through proper timing and intensity of the burn. It also suppresses certain undesirable plants, and improves the environment for the better plants.

While herbicides and tillage certainly play a role in proper field management, controlled burning is also a method used by farmers to “refresh” the land and prepare it for next year’s crop.

(Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS, Bob Dayton, Iowa)

Until we walk again…