California is the largest agricultural state in the US. Yet farmers in California must battle some of the most extreme weather conditions in the world such as droughts that can last years or wildfires that can burn for weeks.

Listen to "California fires spark a debate" on Spreaker.

The year 2018 was a particularly bad one for wildfires in California as there was no rainfall for a large part of the year. In August, a national disaster was declared in Northern California due to the severity of the wildfires.

Strong winds aggravated the situation and shifted wildfires further across the state. Finally, in the latter half of November 2018, the first rains fell in California since the previous March. These much-needed rains dampened fires but switched the focus to mudslides.

Largest fire

The largest fire by far in 2018 was the Camp Fire in Butte county, which claimed the lives of 85 people and destroyed almost 14,000 homes.

The fire burnt an area covering 153,336 acres which is around three-quarters of the area of Co Louth.

Butte County Agricultural Commissioner Louie Mendoza said the blaze did not burn in an agriculturally intensive area, but that some damage has been reported.

Mendoza estimated farmland losses at 30,000 to 40,000 acres, with buildings and fences damaged. He said he was also aware of about 50 acres of fruit orchards and several retail and wholesale nurseries being affected.

Holly Foster, a cattle rancher who serves on the Butte County Farm Bureau board of directors, said the region burned in the Camp Fire housed five or six “good-sized commercial operations”.

“But for the most part, I think all of us, except maybe one operation, had not moved our cattle yet from our summer locations,” she said.

A firefighter examines trees damaged by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, US, 13 November 2018. \ REUTERS/Terray Sylvester

In emergency situations, the agricultural community often plays its part by using county fairgrounds as evacuation centres for people and livestock. To assist farms, ranches and rural communities hurt by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters, the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) has established a Farm and Rural Disaster Fund.

Looking forward, the debate among farmers and the wider public has turned to the management of forestry.

“The federal government is not managing [forestry] properties well,” Richard Matteis, administrator of the (CFBF), told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Management

“There is pressure from environmental groups to not cut anything and if a fire happens, to just let it burn. Well that’s not management and that is destructive. We work our tails off to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a season of bad fires wipes out all our gains.”

President Donald Trump and agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue pledged to make more money available for the management of forestry under the farm bill which was passed by congress in December.

Some $20m has been made available per year for five years to help forest management under the 2018 farm bill.

But CFBF expressed disappointment that the final bill did not do more to improve wildfire prevention and forest management.