Ohio

A spike in the number of large-scale animal farms and resulting manure production in the Maumee watershed is contributing to algae blooms in Lake Erie, a new report finds. The authors write that over half of the manure contributing to water pollution comes from farms that don't require permits or regulatory oversight.

Some 169 toxic algal blooms were reported in 40 states in 2017, compared to only three blooms in 2010, says the Environmental Working Group in a report released today that names agricultural runoff as a primary factor. The EWG says farmers should be required to meet basic standards for control of nutrient runoff because voluntary efforts are insufficient.

A day after the Ohio EPA declared the western end of Lake Erie to be an impaired wateryway, agency director Craig Butler said, "The time has come that we can't rely on voluntary programs" to reduce nutrient runoff that feeds algal blooms in the lake, reported Associated Press. To address the problem, the state announced a set of new proposals to reduce runoff from farms and wastewater plants.

Environmental groups in Michigan and Ohio filed suit against the EPA, seeking a court order for the agency to decide whether water quality in western Lake Erie is impaired. The designation would lead to pollution regulations aimed at preventing algae blooms, which can be toxic, said the Associated Press.

Cities are creating jobs faster than rural areas with a 13.3 percent growth rate in the past year, compared to 4.8 percent in rural counties, says a Daily Yonder analysis of Labor Department statistics. "Unemployment remains a bigger problem in rural counties than metro areas," says the Yonder, which tried to gauge local conditions in battleground states.

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.

The Ohio House and Senate are expected to vote this week on legislation intended to reduce toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie by reducing farm runoff, says the Associated Press.

Wetlands in the upper Mississippi and Ohio River watersheds can remove up to 1,800 pounds of nitrogen per acre from field runoff, says a USDA study of the economic benefits of wetland conservation.

Snowville Creamery is a small operation with big ideas and run by a career dairyman, says Civil Eats. Says owner Warren Taylor, “I built a creamery to prove that we can produce good high quality, good tasting milk for everybody in America.”

During the summer, green slime, also known as blue-green algae, disrupted the water supply for Toledo. Nutrient runoff from farms, especially phosphorus fertilizer, gets part of the blame for feeding the algae blooms.

Crop scouts reported strong potential corn yields in southwestern Iowa and the northern half of Illinois as the annual Pro Farmer crop tour headed toward release today of an estimate of the U.S. corn and soybean crops.

Corn yields in Ohio and South Dakota are likely to be far above last year's levels, say scouts on the Pro Farmer crop tour. Their reports indicate a yield of 182.1 bushels an acre in Ohio and 152.7 bushels an acre in South Dakota.

Farm leaders in Ohio say producers have worked for years to reduce their use of fertilizer and to reduce runoff through using no-till cultivation and planting filter strips near waterways, says AgWeb.

1. North Carolina Rep Renee Ellmers won the Republican nomination for a third term on Tuesday in "the one House race where immigration matters," as Politico phrased it. Ellmers, with Tea Party roots, is one of a few Republicans to support legalization of undocumented workers. She beat her opponent, economic commentator Frank Roche, by a 3-to-2 margin, says the State Board of Elections Web site.

The 2014 farm law ended the direct-payment subsidy and made crop insurance the major farm support. For most states, there is little difference in the state's share of the receipts.

The Agriculture Department announced $35 million in grants to the historically black 1890 land grant colleges and universities.