IDAHO - No one wants to breath dirty air, and to help keep the air clean the Department of Environmental Quality is now asking farmers to register any fields they plan to burn. The downside, it takes more than a month to get a permit.

The goal of the registration is to make sure that when farmers do burn their crops it won't cause problems to people nearby. Brent Cornforth, a local grass seed farmer said, "You can burn several hundred acres in a day no problem."

For many farmers burning the field after a harvest is just as important as watering and weeding. Joe Bellin, seasonal burn coordinator with the DEQ said, "A lot of them don't really like to burn. So they're only going to burn when they're going to be changing crops or where they have a specific need."

The fires rejuvenate some crops, and are also helpful when farmers need to level their fields or change irrigation routes.

But before burning crop residue this year farmers need to attend a training session with the Department of Environmental Quality, resigter their field, and pay a fee. Cornforth said, "It's just a few more hoops to jump through. But for the environment and for health issues, air quality I think it's a good thing."

Once everything is reigstered farmers will have to wait for the DEQ to call on the morning they want to burn to find out if weather conditions will allow it. Bellin said, "What we'd like to have is have the smoke go straight up 5 to 8-thousand feet and then be carried away."

The DEQ also wants to make sure that the crop residue burning doesn't increase pollutants in the air which can create breathing problems for children and seniors. "If you end up with [polluntants] in the air [children and seniors] end up breathing those and they get down inside the lungs and they can be quite harmful," said Bellin.

Over the next few weeks the DEQ will be holding training session throughout Southeast Idaho at the following locations.

-Caribou County Extension Office: 53 E. 1st S. Soda Springs on August 21, 2008, 11:00 a.m.

-Franklin County Extension Office: 561 W. Oneida St. Preston on August 22, 2008, 1:00 p.m.

-Bonneville County Extension Office: 2925 Rollandet Idaho Falls on August 26, 2008, 9:00 a.m.

-Bannock County Extension Office: 130 N. 6th Ave., Suite B Pocatello on August 27, 2008, 9:00 a.m.

You can also find more information on the Department of Environmental Quality website at www.deq.state.id.us.