JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – Field burning continues to be a hot topic in Northeast Arkansas, especially with recent haziness.
K8 News spoke with crop consultant Tyler Hydrick and Dr. Shane Speights of the New York Institute of Technology, who both said there are health concerns with field burning.
“Basically what we use it for is to help us with reduced tillage passes and it also helps with methane gas emissions off of the field that affect the atmosphere at a much greater impact than carbon dioxide which is essentially what we’re releasing off the fire,” Hyrdick said.
Field burning is a common practice in Northeast Arkansas. There are natural benefits as it can save farmers money, but it does come with its risks, especially in air quality and health concerns.
“When we do have field burning, with that particulate matter in the air, and you’re inhaling that, that can make it more difficult in terms of breathing,” Dr. Speights said.
Dr. Speights said that they do see an uptick in patient visits to hospitals during field burning, especially for those who have respiratory issues.
He said people can also try to mitigate the amount of smoke they inhale.
“There are some strategies that parents and individuals can do to lower the chances of having reactions to this,” Dr. Speights said, “Kids shouldn’t be outside, I know we’ve got athletics going on but that should be limited because the air quality is significantly impacted whenever we have field burning.”
Hydrick said they are aware of the health risks and are trying to educate more farmers about the best times to burn.
“There’s this wide misconception that farmers don’t care, but we do care and we’re not trying to give you a terminal illness when we’re burning,” Hyrdick said, “We’re trying to do it right, and trying to do the right things and we’re trying to work together to come up with a better solution and that solution right now is education.”
“Our farmers are such a blessing to this community in terms of everything that they bring and what they bring across the country in terms of the break basket but recognizing that there may be some opportunities to do things differently,” Dr. Speights said.
There are studies being conducted at the legislative level to determine what the best solutions and resolutions are.
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