MAGA types love to rage against "big government" but Iowa farmers in Polk County are loving the help they are getting from the county. Nitrate laden runoff from agricultural fields is a big environmental problem. In fact the runoff from upstream has created a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. If that boggles your mind remember that river valleys like the Mississippi are huge basins that catch and collect water including water polluted with nitrogen fertilizers. These chemicals make the corn grow tall, but half the state's rivers and streams are uninhabitable and undrinkable because of contaminated runoff. Fertilizers encourage algae growth that depletes disolved oxygen and reduces clarity. Not only fertilized fields create the problem, but concentrated livestock feeding is also a big contributor.
There is a simple solution to the problem, however. Bioreactors made from wood chips are cheap and relatively easy to bury, and they work filtering out nitrates before they reach a stream or river. Numerous studies have shown that bioreactors filter out half or more nitrates from runoff. Polk County is making it even easier for farmers who detest "woke" by handling the installations for the farmer and contributing $1000 per site. Installations of the low-tech solution have skyrocketed there because who doesn't like free money?
However, Iowa has 10 million acres of tile-drained farmland. "Tile" refers to plastic drainage pipe used to drain fields making them suitable for planting. Clay tiles were once used for this purpose, hence the name. In their quest for greater yields, farmers tend to overspray nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers under a misconception that more is better. Excessive fertilizer use has caused dead waterways and blue babies due to lack of oxygen. The conservative state's legislature has consistently refused to require reducing contaminated runoff despite Iowa being the biggest contributor to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Relying on voluntary actions is clearly not working--enter Polk County's incentive program.
Polk is home to the capital, Des Moines. The nitrogen pollution problem came to a head there when the city went to court because it was forced to pay millions to filter water taken from the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers for drinking. The suit against three northwest counties (upstream) was predictably dismissed. The city then turned to a cooperative approach with agricultural groups to help reduce the pollution problem. It made an offer the farmers could not refuse. Even political opponents endorse the incentive program.
Environmentalists are generally appreciative of the incentive initiative, but they say it has to be implemented on a much grander scale.Thousands of stream side barriers and bioreactors are needed to significantly reduce nitrogen pollution. Cost of a robust program including cover crops and no-till practices could be $4 billion according to a study in 2017. Wetland restoration is another solution, but even more expensive. This approach has the added benefit of providing wildlife habitat that has been destroyed by fence to fence industrial agriculture. One thing is clear: Iowa has to clean up its act. [photo credit: AP]
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