IOWA - Water pollution & Livestock

[TSAMP]

So I came across this article today. The short version is its highlighting the damage livestock waste & fertilizer does to the drinking water. Not just for Iowa but those downstream as well.
Multiple comments in this article I found thought provoking and interesting. I'm posting it to hear thoughts from others. This has been on my radar for awhile with a close friend who works in wastewater. I don't particularly consider myself a climate change fanatic or any of that, but I do take notice of any group who seems to be considered beyond reproach, and in our case In Iowa farmers are high on that list.


One particular quote from it is below

"Earlier this year, the state released a report revealing that Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate in the country (behind Kentucky), and is the only state with a rising rate of cancer. Nitrate in drinking water can increase the risks of colon, kidney, and stomach cancers, but the word “nitrate” is nowhere to be found in the report. What’s your assessment of how the state has addressed water quality as a public health "


Nitrates causing cancer aside, you cannot deny our waters are in far worse shape than our neighbors. Look how many of us Iowans head north to enjoy our neighboring states lakes and streams.

Hog Poop from Iowa Is Polluting Your Water

In his new book ‘The Swine Republic,’ environmental scientist Chris Jones tells hard truths about Iowa’s agricultural industry and how its farming practices contaminate water thousands of miles away

www.outsideonline.com

 

[String&stick]

One state over in Nebraska. . . While we don't apply as much hog manure we still pour on the fertilizer! We have numerous parts of the state with warnings for children and pregnant or nursing mothers due to high nitrates. Conveniently everyone else is fine! But they also recently noted high uranium levels in our water which is linked to fertilizers as well. . .

So maybe 60-70 years down the road they will work on holding people accountable or making changes, but I don't see anything happening in the near future.

 

[Sniff]

I grew up in Hardin County. Maybe one of the most dense concentrations of confinements in the state. It is a no brainer that this is not good land practices. Good luck with changing it though. The money keeps pouring into the political system, they ain’t changing shit.

 

[Customweld]

There is a county road in the area that I grew up in that we referred to as “cancer row”. It was huge apple orchards in the early 1900’s. Shallow wells and high levels of nitrates/nitrites. A lot of those wells are GUDIS(ground water under direct influence of surface water), so surface contaminates are easily introduced.
The new buzzwords now are PFAS and PFOS. Keep an ear out for those.

 

[gabenzeke]

I live in Iowa. Just have a look at any of our rivers or lakes in the summer and you can see something isn't right. The two lakes right by my house are both closed to any kind of swimming once it gets real hot due to algae blooms. Really wishing more people would consider alternative farming methods before we get to a point of no return. It's actually amazing that people still subscribe to the idea that dumping tons of chemicals on your fields every single year is the best way to do things.

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[rharbaugh]

I’ll play devils advocate here.

Farmers in the corn belt are paid to produce as much grain as possible and as cheaply as possible. With a very high correlation between nitrogen (N) applications and crop growth/grain yields, farmers will push N applications to the max. They’ll say, “I know how much it costs me to over apply N. I don’t want to know how much it costs me to under apply N.”

Livestock producers are primarily concerned about soil test phosphorus (P) levels when it comes to applying manure. When they apply manure, they focus on the amount of P/thousand gallon vs the amount of N. This often leads to an over application of N.

P is the primary limiting nutrient when it comes to algae blooms. P primarily moves to surface waters by being tightly bound to soil particles, so soil conservation is key to prevent P loss. N can move to surface waters with soil and being dissolved in runoff water. N moves to ground water by leaching through the soil profile.

Farmers and livestock producers shield themselves from scrutiny by hiding behind statements of “cheap and secure food supply”. They are paid to produce, not save the environment.

There are several local municipal governments and consumer packaged good companies that are trying to incentivize farmer to adapt environmentally friendly practices (check out the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund), but farmers don’t like change. They like cash. And the environmentally friendly routes aren’t that lucrative.

Ideally the solution will be resolved in an open, free market by the consumer willing to pay more for products that are produced in an environmentally friendly manner that drives change in the country. I highly doubt this will be the solution though. Just take a look around at MN, WI, and MD. Legislation will quickly find its way south and west.


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[Okhotnik]

Terrible. But tens of millions of Americans still have no issues dumping hundreds of pounds of cancer causing herbicides , insecticide, fertilizers , glycomphosphates on their lawns, not to mention environmental disasters like thousands of golf courses and athletic fields around the US that do the same

But those are accepted unlike farmers

 

[Sniff]

Terrible. But tens of millions of Americans still have no issues dumping hundreds of pounds of cancer causing herbicides , insecticide, fertilizers , glycomphosphates on their lawns, not to mention environmental disasters like thousands of golf courses and athletic fields around the US that do the same

But those are accepted unlike farmers

Farmers and these practices have been accepted for decades. Let’s not get all focused on whataboutisms. The farming industry has destroyed much of Iowa.

 

[Keith Stone]

Farmers and these practices have been accepted for decades. Let’s not get all focused on whataboutisms. The farming industry has destroyed much of Iowa.

So I’m guessing you’re a golfer and not a farmer?

 

[IowaNative]

I live in Iowa and I believe we should look more into no-till and cover crop programs. Of course this is an issue I have with myself because I also would like the free market to decide prices and keep government subsidies at a bare minimum (read $0.00). Full disclosure though, my family does take NRCS/CRP payments for waterway programs, but that's not my call.

I remember growing up and every waterway had a buffer strip that help upland game and deer. After 2008 everything got pushed and plowed for $8 corn and I saw some of the best pheasant ground turn to black dirt.

 

[Chucklehead]

Hands will be forced eventually. Look at what is happening in the Netherlands and lesser extent Canada. It will find its way to the US.
I understand the desire for better environmental practices, but you can't obtain it by collapsing the food chain.

 

[Jimbee]

Hands will be forced eventually. Look at what is happening in the Netherlands and lesser extent Canada. It will find its way to the US.
I understand the desire for better environmental practices, but you can't obtain it by collapsing the food chain.

You can't eat ethanol

 

[Chucklehead]

I live in Iowa and I believe we should look more into no-till and cover crop programs. Of course this is an issue I have with myself because I also would like the free market to decide prices and keep government subsidies at a bare minimum (read $0.00). Full disclosure though, my family does take NRCS/CRP payments for waterway programs, but that's not my call.

I remember growing up and every waterway had a buffer strip that help upland game and deer. After 2008 everything got pushed and plowed for $8 corn and I saw some of the best pheasant ground turn to black dirt.

No-till is seeming to gain popularity every year, but its slow-going.
But cover crop is another story. Some years its good, some years it is a total disaster. It all depends on rainfall.
When soil moisture is limited, you can't be wasting water on a "crop" that doesn't make you a dime. If this years drought continues, there might be operations that never plant covers ever again. Maybe I'm wrong though.
The CRP program is something every hunter should be absolutely POed about. Gov botched it bigtime.

You can't eat ethanol

Look up "distillers grain"
Grains don't disappear when you make ethanol.

 

[TSAMP]

Good feedback so far. I find it important to note when someone says farmers, many of us picture that grandfather climbing down to a glass of lemonade. However the article points out the actual # of farmers has plummeted. Which means obviously more cooperatives and big business getting involved and less of the little guy.

Even between individual farmers practices can vary wildly based on their priorities. My uncle living out of state has 250 acres which is probably 30% tillable, 50% grazing , 20% timber. The local farmer who cares for the land has all the tillable in row crops and packs every cow he can there. I find 7 + dead cows every year. The creek is destroyed by the cattle. It isnt difficult to see he's got an aggressive approach.

I brought another farmer in to give me an opinion and potentially take over the operations and it was interesting to say the least what he thought was appropriate and what he would like to change.


When we talk about land management and wildlife. There's nobody more connected and less scrutinized than this group.

 

[Phaseolus]

Terrible. But tens of millions of Americans still have no issues dumping hundreds of pounds of cancer causing herbicides , insecticide, fertilizers , glycomphosphates on their lawns, not to mention environmental disasters like thousands of golf courses and athletic fields around the US that do the same

But those are accepted unlike farmers

What are glycomphosates? Glyphosate is not used on lawns. It is not a selective herbicide.

 

[Keith Stone]

Good feedback so far. I find it important to note when someone says farmers, many of us picture that grandfather climbing down to a glass of lemonade. However the article points out the actual # of farmers has plummeted. Which means obviously more cooperatives and big business getting involved and less of the little guy.

Even between individual farmers practices can vary wildly based on their priorities. My uncle living out of state has 250 acres which is probably 30% tillable, 50% grazing , 20% timber. The local farmer who cares for the land has all the tillable in row crops and packs every cow he can there. I find 7 + dead cows every year. The creek is destroyed by the cattle. It isnt difficult to see he's got an aggressive approach.

I brought another farmer in to give me an opinion and potentially take over the operations and it was interesting to say the least what he thought was appropriate and what he would like to change.


When we talk about land management and wildlife. There's nobody more connected and less scrutinized than this group.

So why are there fewer small farms and more larger farms owned by these corporations?

Is your uncle’s farm a hobby farm or is/was it the sole source of income for his family?

Why did the 7 cows die?

So you’re saying private land owners are responsible for wildlife management? And what level of scrutiny would you like to see imposed to fix this issue?

I am not trying to be a jerk but most people do not have a clue what it takes to make a living farming in this day and age. Fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides are regulated and there are limits to follow. There are people that abuse the system but it’s no different than an oil truck driving over the speed limit, wrecking, then spilling oil and everyone saying how bad hauling oil in tankers is.

People want and need cheap food. There are companies out there for you to support that have a more “sustainable” model but at the increased cost. If you feel that strongly about the issue and are able to afford it then support who you want but understand the greater part of the population do not have the means to make those decisions.

People should be good stewards of the land we have been given but who are you to tell someone how they should manage their land?

 

[holder171]

Farmers and these practices have been accepted for decades. Let’s not get all focused on whataboutisms. The farming industry has destroyed much of Iowa.

I’m a big bow hunter here in Iowa and hate to see farmers tear out a bunch of trees and habitat just to gain a few acres to farm so I definitely have my gripes with them but to claim they’ve ruined much of Iowa is absurd to me. Farming has brought more to this state than it has destroyed it.


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[Meshnasty]

I grew up in southern MN. We would see the pig farmers pump/spray the manure on the fields while the tiles never quit running. That stuff makes it into the creeks and ditches pretty fast, much less anything else that has been applied to the soil.

MN has been working on project sampling to see if insecticides are in deer.

Data show increasing insecticide levels in Minnesota deer

A second year of testing by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources found increased levels of neonicotinoid insecticide in white-tailed deer.

www.mprnews.org

 

[Sniff]

I’m a big bow hunter here in Iowa and hate to see farmers tear out a bunch of trees and habitat just to gain a few acres to farm so I definitely have my gripes with them but to claim they’ve ruined much of Iowa is absurd to me. Farming has brought more to this state than it has destroyed it.


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Brought more of what? Money? What about soil health, water quality, air quality, mono crops, degradation of wetlands, cutting out ditch habitat, the central to northern half of the state is shit…literally smells year round of confinement and when they spray it’s even worse. But I’m sure the nitrates and all of the studies on population health are just misleading.

 

[Sniff]

So I’m guessing you’re a golfer and not a farmer?

Do you live in Iowa? Ever been? Employee of Iowa Select or Monsanto?