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Empirical fire research in Canola Stubble
Victoria experienced several devastating grassfires this year, burning through rural townships and hectares of prime agricultural land. State and federal governments have already announced over $100 million in support of fire ravaged communities, with over $50 million for the farming community alone. To adequately predict fires in agricultural areas, empirical research is necessary to determine how fires spread though these landscapes under a range of conditions.
Currently most cropland fuels are routinely treated as ‘grasslands’ in operational fire prediction, despite distinct differences in structure and arrangement that influence fire behaviour. Canola is Australia’s third most prominent crop, behind wheat and barley, and Australia’s canola production is forecast to increase by 1% to 6.4 million tonnes in 2025-26, 34% above the 10-year average to 2024-25 (ABARES, 2025). Operationally, when fires run into canola stubble it is considered advantageous by fire crews due to the reported slow fire growth. However, under certain conditions this is not the case. This study reports on what factors influence fire spread in canola stubble, as well as what conditions are not conducive to fire propagation.
This presentation will focus on the methodology and preliminary results from a multi-agency experimental field burn program on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, aimed at understanding fire propagation characteristics in canola stubble. The research methodology integrates standardised measurements of fuel, weather and fire behaviour across a range of wildfire conditions. The experimental design follows previous crop experimental burn research in wheat in south-west, Victoria, which aimed to understand the effect of different wheat harvest stages on fire behaviour (e.g. unharvested, harvested and baled) (Cruz et al, 2020). When enough data is collected, a canola fire behaviour model may be developed to improve operational fire prediction and response tactics.
Currently most cropland fuels are routinely treated as ‘grasslands’ in operational fire prediction, despite distinct differences in structure and arrangement that influence fire behaviour. Canola is Australia’s third most prominent crop, behind wheat and barley, and Australia’s canola production is forecast to increase by 1% to 6.4 million tonnes in 2025-26, 34% above the 10-year average to 2024-25 (ABARES, 2025). Operationally, when fires run into canola stubble it is considered advantageous by fire crews due to the reported slow fire growth. However, under certain conditions this is not the case. This study reports on what factors influence fire spread in canola stubble, as well as what conditions are not conducive to fire propagation.
This presentation will focus on the methodology and preliminary results from a multi-agency experimental field burn program on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, aimed at understanding fire propagation characteristics in canola stubble. The research methodology integrates standardised measurements of fuel, weather and fire behaviour across a range of wildfire conditions. The experimental design follows previous crop experimental burn research in wheat in south-west, Victoria, which aimed to understand the effect of different wheat harvest stages on fire behaviour (e.g. unharvested, harvested and baled) (Cruz et al, 2020). When enough data is collected, a canola fire behaviour model may be developed to improve operational fire prediction and response tactics.
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