With nearly 100 active wildfires across the three Prairie provinces at this writing, farmers don’t have to go far to see and feel the effects of smoke in the atmosphere — but what this year’s crops will experience is a more complicated matter.
If you’ve got time for some reading right now, here we’ve gathered a list of links to recent years’ articles on the subject from across our sister publications.
Impact of smoke on crops is more than a little hazy, Alberta Farmer, 2019
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As smoke over Prairie skies became an annual phenomenon, many farmers were wondering about the cumulative effect on their seeded crops. The answer to that question, though, “is so plant- and environment-specific” and not much research has been done to further clarify, agronomist Jeremy Boychyn told Alexis Kienlen.
How is corn impacted by wildfire smoke?, Manitoba Co-operator, 2024
How does a smoke-obscured sun and poor air quality affect corn crops? To be sure, it reduces sunlight (bad) — but it also helps to diffuse sunlight (good).
“The way it breaks out is that wildfire smoke can negatively impact the crop, but it can actually positively affect the crop,” Purdue professor Dan Quinn told our associate editor Don Norman last spring.
The potential impacts to field crops from wildfire smoke, Farmtario, 2023
Ontario’s ag ministry put together these lists of the pros and cons of wildfire smoke on crops during wildfires in Ontario and Quebec in 2023.
Wildfire smoke’s crop yield impact thought to be minimal, Western Producer, 2024
Whether wildfire smoke has an impact on crop yield is one thing, but as smoke’s effects on grape crops in California and Australia have shown, its effect on crop quality may be quite another.
Smoke and weather a complex topic, Manitoba Co-operator, 2024
Weather expert Daniel Bezte examined what we know about wildfire smoke’s effects on weather, including temperatures, precipitation and atmospheric stability.
Click here for information from the Canadian Red Cross on how to support evacuees from wildfire-threatened communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
