The Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service reminds farms about the recently developed Arkansas Voluntary Smoke Management Guidelines for Row Crop Burning.
Using the guidelines only requires calling the Arkansas Agriculture Department Dispatch Center at 1-800-830-8015 before burning. Farmers are urged to save their number in their phones for future use.
“As harvest draws near, we wanted to make you aware of a new program that will ultimately help prevent additional red tape for Arkansas agriculture,” Kurt Beaty, Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service agent-agriculture, said in a news release.
Field burning is a valuable practice farmers often depend on to make next year’s crop.
“In order to educate the general public on the environmental and economic benefits of burning, a group of agriculture stakeholders recently developed a set of Voluntary Smoke Management Guidelines,” Beaty said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“These guidelines were developed with input from Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation, Agricultural Council of Arkansas, Arkansas Soybean Association, Arkansas Rice Federation, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Arkansas Agriculture Department and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality,” he said.
Details: Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service, 870-534-1033.
The Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture which offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without discrimination.