By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist

Texas farmers and ranchers can take proactive steps to safeguard farms, ranches and homes from potential wildfires.

Over the last decade, millions of acres have burned in the Lone Star State. More than 1.2 million acres burned in the Texas Panhandle last year, making it the largest wildfire in Texas history. AgriLife Extension economists estimated agricultural losses totaled over $123 million.  “We can’t just live by the traditional wildfire season anymore,” Dr. Morgan Treadwell, AgriLife Extension range specialist, said. “We need to read the pastures, landscapes and plant communities and understand how the ranch management strategy fits into the big picture, which inevitably includes wildfire.”

The Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) and AgriLife Extension have recommendations and resources available to help farmers, ranchers and landowners better protect their property.

Protecting your ranch
Wildfire on a ranch can be costly, dangerous and can spread quickly. To help prevent wildfires, TFS recommends farmers and ranchers:

  • Maintain a 30-foot barrier clear of burnable materials around fields and structures.
  • Inform your fire department about access roads, water sources, fence lines and preferred wildfire suppression tactics.
  • Establish contingency plans for feeding livestock and create a plan to relocate livestock if fire is imminent and time permits.
  • Plan different routes to leave your property, as wildfire may make your usual routes unsafe.
  • Identify priority areas, points of contact, mapping of water sources, sensitive areas, fences, gates, and other zones within the ranch. TFS noted this will allow firefighters to make tactical decisions that reflect the landowners’ priorities.

Map My Property can help landowners map their property, draw and edit boundaries, add text labels and export the map to a PDF file.

Protecting your home
TFS encourages homeowners to take a proactive approach to wildfires, which could significantly increase safety during a wildfire:

  • Create defensible space with fire resistant landscaping.
  • Use fire resistant construction.
  • Improve access for emergency responders.

AgriLife Extension publication
AgriLife Extension released a new publication, Wildfire: Preparing the Ranch, as an online education resource for ranchers and landowners.

Information on identifying early or intense wildfire environments, risk management, infrastructure protection, livestock evacuation and a wildfire preparation checklist are included in the publication.

USDA’s annual Cattle Inventory Report released Friday shows the U.S. total cattle inventory shrunk another 1% over the past year, with the number of beef cows also down 1%.

“This publication was created to supplement existing producer knowledge and present science- and experience-based actionable, proactive steps and strategies,” Treadwell said. “This will serve as a one-stop shop in living and ranching with the reality of wildfire conditions.”

More information
For more information and additional safety tips, visit the Texas A&M Forest Service website.