Manage Fire Risks During Harvest

By Kris Kohl

Early planting combined with warm spring and fall conditions has led to an earlier-than-usual corn harvest in Iowa. Crops are also drier than normal, creating a greater risk of field fires during harvest.

The primary factor related to field fires is higher air temperature. It dries out crops more quickly and creates conditions favorable for field fires to ignite and spread. Wind speed affects the risk of a field fire spread by aiding combustion as well as by carrying heat and burning embers to new fields:

• Below 15 miles per hour: low risk of spreading
• Between 15 and 20 miles per hour: medium risk
• Over 25 miles per hour: high risk