To heal the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, we have to look north to Midwest farms (2024)

There’s a massive area in the Gulf of Mexico that’s so low in oxygen, aquatic life can’t survive there. Many say it’s mainly from excessive fertilizer that runs off from Midwestern farms.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There's a massive area in the Gulf of Mexico that is so low in oxygen, fish and other aquatic life can't live there. It's called a dead zone. The EPA says it's mainly due to excessive fertilizer runoff from Midwestern farms, and there are no specific laws to regulate it. From the Mississippi River Basin Ag and Water Desk, Eric Schmid reports.

ERIC SCHMID, BYLINE: Doug Downs keeps a close watch over the fields of corn and soybeans that he farms in central Illinois, roughly 2,000 acres.

DOUG DOWNS: There's a lot of driving.

SCHMID: On this cool and rainy spring day, he's scouting for his fields that are just about ready for planting.

DOWNS: Whatever spot is driest first is where I'm going to go.

SCHMID: Some fields here look the way farmers have done things for decades, completely turned over with rich and dark soil exposed. Others sport a thick layer of green vegetation, cover crops, like cereale rye or wheat that grew over the winter season.

DOWNS: I have a lot of mixed emotions about cover crops.

SCHMID: These kinds of plants can soak up excess nutrients like nitrogen and keep them from polluting the water downstream. For decades, too many nutrients have run off from farmland, down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico, increasing the dead zone there. This year, the federal government predicts it will be as big as Connecticut, meaning the country will likely miss a 2025 deadline to cut the dead zone by 20%, despite dedicating billions of dollars to the problem over decades. Iowa State University Professor J. Arbuckle says cover crops can help. He's a rural sociologist and says many farmers he's surveyed tell him they're more focused on their bottom line.

J ARBUCKLE: You know, if I'm not economically sustainable in the short term, there's no way I can be environmentally sustainable in the long term.

SCHMID: Doug Downs is familiar with this challenge. These days, about 15 to 20% of his fields have cover crops, but he says he's not convinced they'll work on more of his acreage.

DOWNS: I can't use them everywhere. I can't lose money for the sake of growing the cover crop.

SCHMID: And, like many Midwestern farmers, Downs applies nitrogen for the corn he grows. Cover crops on their own can't completely cut the need for extra fertilizer, but Iowa State University's Arbuckle says they do make more nitrogen available in the soil over time. He says that means farmers could spend less money on additional fertilizer, boosting their profits and keeping pollutants from getting into waterways. But it could take years before an operation like that becomes profitable, years that many farmers simply can't afford.

ARBUCKLE: Farmers are now saying, well, we've done what you asked us to do, and now we're being asked to do something different. How do I get there?

SCHMID: The Illinois Corn Growers Association says it has an answer. Its Precision Conservation Management program uses government and private money to pay farmers up to $35 an acre to try things like cover crops, no-till farming or using less nitrogen fertilizer. Other states in the country and even the USDA have similar incentives. The Illinois program prompted Ed Decker, who also farms corn and soy in central Illinois, to sign up.

ED DECKER: It's a double-edged sword. Honestly, we kind of need to be doing it on our own if that's the right thing to do in the long term.

SCHMID: So far, only a fraction of Illinois farmers are enrolled. The idea is to get them to change now, before the federal or state government steps in with regulations. Doug Downs expects that farmers like him will eventually be required to use more cover crops and less synthetic fertilizers. He says he'll try anything that could help him do that. It's why he signed up for that Illinois Corn Growers program as early as he could.

DOWNS: We're not providing a service. I mean, I hate to say it like that. I'm here to make a living. My definition of sustainability is staying in business and putting my kids through school and making my mortgage payments and making my farm payments. You know, I certainly don't want to pollute my water.

SCHMID: Water that eventually makes its way all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. For NPR News, I'm Eric Schmid in Champagne County, Ill.

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