Crop farmers from the Northern Great Plains to Upper Midwest are wondering about the impact of smoke from wildfires out west.

Peterson Farms Seed agronomist Rick Swenson says several of their weather stations set up to study white mold feature solar radiation sensors that have unintentionally measured the impact…

“When we looked at the 4th of July we were 92 degrees, and it was crystal clear and hot, almost oppressive. When we jumped forward to (July) 11th, 12th, 13th, we actually had about a 20 percent reduction in solar radiation compared to the 4th just by having that smoke in there.”

He tells Brownfield because it’s so dry the smoke seems to be helping the plants more than hurting them.

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