Manage Fire Risks During Harvest

Oct 03, 2025

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

Source : iastate.edu

Video: Our Own On-Farm Research Is the Best Source - Managing White Mold in Northeast Nebraska

If you assumed Nebraska was too hot and dry for white mold to be a problem in soybeans, think again.

This week we're featuring Galen Samuelson, a farmer and dealer from Wakefield, Nebraska, who knows all too well how devastating white mold can be.

"We don't have it consistently every year, but with our temperature and humidity, it can hurt us quite bad," Samuelson says. Looking for alternatives, he explains, "What I like about Heads Up is that it's non-harmful to the beneficial fungal colonies in the soil." Galen has been using Heads Up for several years now, after first hearing about it through a small ad in a regional newspaper. Watch below to hear about his journey.

When asked to write about Samuelson Seed, Galen said the following:

"Samuelson Seed is a 4th-generation, family-based company. It started with my grandfather, and I'm now starting to pass the torch to my son, Caleb."

"In the early 1990s, I started working with a company whose focus was on plant and soil health before those benefits were widely known. I've continued to keep plant and soil health the main focus in our farming operation decisions."