Wet Forecast To Keep Field Smoke Out Of Skies Grass Growers Will Meet Again On Monday To Set Burning Dates

The prospect of wet weather will delay the traditional start of grassfield burning this week.

“It looks like we are going to get a lot of rain this week,” said Terry Christianson of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality. That weather front prompted state officials and the Intermountain Grass Growers to agree to meet again next Monday to set the dates for torching bluegrass and turf grass fields in the area.

Once field fires are lit, North Idaho farmers have 14 burning days, over a 45-day period, to burn their fields. Washington farmers have no time limit for the first time due to changes made by the 1995 Washington Legislature.

Grass-growers on the Washington side have agreed to stick to the same 45-day schedule. But they can burn on as many days as they want.

Under the voluntary agreement, they can start burning today. But the weather doesn’t look promising, said John Cornwall, president of the Intermountain Grass Growers and a Fairfield farmer.

That’s a problem. The grass has been growing steadily since harvest because of rain.

That means it will take fields longer to dry enough to be burned once the weather clears, Cornwall said. “We’ve got some real nervous folks,” he said.

Burning fields clears stubble and also is supposed to increase yields, farmers say.

Farmers in Idaho who don’t get burning permits or break other rules face fines this year for the first time. Also new this season are monitors run by DEQ that more closely track the amount of smoke generated each hour.

When levels exceed an hourly limit, farmers will have to stop lighting additional fields for the remainder of the day.

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