Farmers reeling from record year of wildfires

In the era of climate change, record-setting fires are the new norm — something farmers are learning to adapt to. Delbar says it will be weeks if not months before the USDA compiles a comprehensive list of fire damage on Mendocino and Lake County farms, an area known for its vineyards, orchards and organic vegetable farms, in addition to a handful of large ranches. But she says early indications are that ranches, which typically consist of dry, hilly terrain, have had the worst of it, as most other farms are clustered in valleys that were kept safe by firebreaks, or in some cases by farmers’ own irrigation systems used as a last resort.Many ranchers in the area, even if they didn’t lose any livestock, will have heavy financial losses this year because their grazing areas have been reduced to charred earth, says Delbar. “We’ll have to buy a lot of extra hay from now through the winter, plus there are fences and watering systems to rebuild.”Emily MacNair, director of the B.C. Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative, says the situation is similar in her province, which is suffering through the worst fire season on record (the previous “record” was set last year). Other than ranch land, few farms have actually burned, she says, but that doesn’t mean that farmers aren’t impacted. MacNair offers a laundry list of secondary impacts, ranging from “smoke taint” making wine unsellable, to farmworkers being treated for respiratory problems as a result of laboring in smoky conditions.