Stubble burners have again infuriated Winnipeggers and provoked more calls for banning the practice.
The Winnipeg Sun described the situation in its front page story September 7 as “Burning Mayhem.” The Winnipeg Free Press called it “A Burning Debate” in its front page story on the same day.
A thick white cloud hung over parts of some of Winnipeg’s main thoroughfares Sept. 6 after legal and illegal stubble fires were lit Sept. 5. The fires caused a series of traffic accidents on the whited-out roads and caused asthma and allergy problems among city residents.
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The Sept. 5 fires were lit after the provincial government lifted a pre-Labour Day fire ban that was imposed after illegal fires caused accidents on the Trans-Canada and other highways, as well as in Winnipeg.
It’s a nightmare situation for Keystone Agricultural Producers, which must defend farmers from the public outrage.
“We really don’t need this bad press,” Ian Wishart, a KAP executive member and Portage La Prairie farmer, said shortly after he had to defend farmers on a CBC radio program.
“I’m appalled at what happened today. It’s going to cause a problem in the city and a negative impression on the urban dwellers towards farmers.”
Wishart and KAP president David Rolfe have been arguing that the recent problems with smoke from stubble fires reveals the need for Manitoba to come up with a way to use straw rather than leave it as waste.
A strawboard plant in Elie, Man., was using much wheat straw, but the plant was shut down a few years ago.
“That put a lot of acres of straw back in play,” Wishart said.
He suggested that perhaps Manitoba Hydro could burn straw rather than coal in one of its plants.
Farmers don’t want to burn, Wishart added, because straw contains nitrogen that farmers have to pay for.
Law-breaking farmers caused some of the Sept. 5-6 problems, including one within Winnipeg’s legal city limits, but many of the fires were legal and approved.
Those fires, which should have burned off by sundown, continued until late into the night because of rain. Then an inversion in the atmosphere caused the smoky air to move along the ground and into Winnipeg.
That wasn’t forecasted to happen, which is why the province allowed straw burning Sept. 5.
After the ensuing problems, provincial stubble burning supervisor Andrew Nadler said farmers need to be careful even if they have the go-ahead to burn.
“Even if it’s authorized, the farmer has to make sure the conditions are safe, that they take the proper precautions,” he said. “It’s ultimately their responsibility.”
