agricultural runoff
Less nitrogen runoff from bioenergy grass than row crops
Fertilizer runoff could be reduced significantly if row crops such as corn and soybeans are replaced with perennial grasses harvested for biofuel production, say researchers from four Midwestern universities. Nitrogen runoff in the Mississippi River basin, blamed for creation of a "dead zone" each summer in the Gulf of Mexico, could drop 15-20 percent if switchgrass or miscanthus were planted on a quarter of the land now devoted to row crops, according to computer simulations.
EPA: Widely used weedkiller atrazine is risk to birds, mammals, fish
The second-most widely used weedkiller in the country, atrazine, poses potential chronic risk to birds, mammals and fish due to runoff and spray drift, said a draft ecological-risk assessment by the EPA. The assessment is part of a review that started in 2013 on whether to extend use of the broad-spectrum herbicide in the U.S. for 15 years.
Agriculture a major source of air pollution in northern hemisphere
Farms outweigh all other human sources of fine-particulate air pollution in much of the United States, Europe, Russia and China, says a study by the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
Judge postpones to 2017 trial of Des Moines Water Works lawsuit
Trial of the potentially precedent-setting lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works over high nitrate levels in river water was rescheduled to June 26, 2017, rather than starting this August, reports the Des Moines Register. The lawsuit says federal clean-water laws should apply to agricultural runoff that flows through drainage districts in three northwestern Iowa counties and into the Raccoon River, a source of drinking water for Iowa's capital city and suburbs.
Study: Oregon oysters laced with pharmaceuticals and heavy metals
Native Olympia oysters in Oregon's Netarts and Coos bays are loaded with pharmaceuticals and chemicals, including pain relievers, antibiotics, mercury and pesticides, says a study by Portland State University researchers, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Geological Survey and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Rise of robots a boost to small, diverse farms
The miniaturization of farm machinery may be the ag-tech counter-trend that actually encourages smaller, more diverse farms.
Iowa bill would gut Des Moines’ seats on water board
In a step that its sponsor says involves political pay-back, Republicans in the Iowa state House added language to a budget bill that would dramatically re-organize the board of the Des Moines Water Works, which is suing rural agricultural counties over water pollution.
Nutrient budgets — a European idea for U.S. farmers?
"Scientists in the Chesapeake Bay have been looking at nutrient budgets for close to three decades. But to date, no state has implemented one .... Nevertheless, the idea continues to percolate," reports the Bay Journal, ahead of a Chesapeake Bay Summit to be broadcast on Maryland Public Television on Wednesday.
Iowa counties spend $1.1 million in Des Moines water lawsuit
Three counties in northwest Iowa have spent $1.1 million on attorney fees to defend themselves against a lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works that blames the counties for high nitrate levels in river water, said the Des Moines Register.
Iowa counties ask dismissal of part of Des Moines water suit
Drainage districts in three counties in northwestern Iowa have no way to control nitrate levels in water draining into waterways, so the Des Moines Water Works is misguided in suing them, says the lawyer defending the counties.
Voluntary limits to blame for Puget Sound pollution, law center says
“Washington state and federal government spend taxpayer money on programs designed to fix the pollution problem, but recently only two of 17 reporting regions in Puget Sound showed any improvements in water quality,” says the Western Environmental Law Center.
USDA pledges $41 million to clean up Lake Erie
The USDA will invest $41 million over three years to clean up the Western Lake Erie Basin, which supplies water to farmers in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this week.
Buffer strips should be mandatory, says EWG
Landowners should be required to keep a 50-foot-wide buffer strip of permanent vegetation between cropland and waterways, said the Environmental Working Group, which proposed four "basic standards of care" to control agricultural runoff.
Canada and U.S. aim for less phosphorous runoff into Lake Erie
Six months after the largest algae bloom on record in Lake Erie, Canada and the United States set a target of a 40-percent reduction in phosphorus runoff into the lake. The next step is for the nations to develop plans by February 2018 to meet their targets, which are based on 2008 levels.
Interview: Des Moines case has ‘changed the conversation’ on water quality
In Iowa, a lawsuit by the Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) is forcing the state to confront the question of whether agriculture should be held accountable for nitrates that leach into urban drinking water. FERN’s Kristina Johnson recently spoke with Neil Hamilton, director of the Agricultural Law Center at Iowa’s Drake University, to learn more about the suit.
Chesapeake Bay will stay on ‘pollution diet’
The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the EPA's "pollution diet" for Chesapeake Bay, which is intended to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff, reports the Baltimore Sun.
‘The trouble with Iowa’
Leading into the Feb. 1 precinct caucuses that begin the presidential nomination process, Harper's says in a cover story that "it seems to defy reason" that Iowa, a farm state with a population of 3 million, "should play such an out-sized role. But Iowa is not over. In fact, it may be more relevant than ever."
Iowa grapples with water quality challenges
A day after the Des Moines Water Works reported record daily use of its nitrate-removal equipment, the Agriculture Department offered to pay annual rent to landowners to enroll up to 85,000 acres of farmland in programs to reduce runoff.