Expanding Wildfire Preparedness to Farmers and Ranchers
Agricultural Issues
Jacob Powell
Assistant Professor (Practice)
OSU Extension Service
Moro
Abstract
Wildfires are burning more acres and more frequently across cropland and rangelands in the United States than in the past due to a changing climate, increasing invasive annual grasses, and changing farming practices that leave more residue on the soil surface to reduce erosion. As a result of these recent and continued unprecedented fires in the agricultural community there is increased interest and need for disaster preparedness for the farming community that traditional urban disaster preparedness strategies do not adequately address. Wildfires in agriculture areas are often over looked as fire preparedness and prevention is more of a focus in the more populated wildland urban interface and forested ecosystems. To address these issues extension agent Jacob Powell developed wildfire preparedness training specifically designed for the agricultural community, primarily farmers and ranchers in the western United States. The extension programming is designed to help both producers and rural landowners better understand wildfire risks in agricultural areas, how to develop emergency wildfire plans, improve wildfire prevention steps in farm equipment, create defensible space, and wildfire suppression safety and tactics if they are needed to engage wildfires while waiting for additional support from professional agencies. This presentation will cover the unique challenges that wildfires pose in agricultural areas, along with other educational material and information for other extension faculty to help their communities better prepare for wildfires. Applied research completed by Powell and others on wildfire behavior in fuels commonly found in western agricultural areas will also be briefly covered. Powell has developed two online classes in 2022 that will also be discussed, Agricultural Wildfire Behavior and Suppression (https://beav.es/ibX) and Wildfire Preparedness for Agriculture (https://beav.es/w7b). Powell’s extension programming has featured webinars, in person classes, and on demand online classes that have reached nearly 1,000 farmers, ranchers, and rural residents. In terms of impact it is estimated that the training has saved nearly $2 million dollars of potential wildfire damages over the last two years.
Authors: Jacob Powell
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Jacob Powell Assistant Professor (Practice), OSU Extension Service, Oregon, 97039