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Across Farm Country, Fertilizer Pollution Impacts Not Just Health, but Water Costs, Too

Civil Eats

When Jeff Broberg and his wife, Erica, moved to their 170-acre bean and grain farm in Winona, Minnesota in 1986, their well water measured at 8.6 This “leaky system” refers to what is not absorbed by the crops on the field, most dangerously, in this case, fertilizer. “It’s Fertilizer as Poison The U.S. ppm for nitrates.

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Illinois Dust Storm Disaster Is a Warning for Agriculture

The Equation

When soil erosion and climate change collide We’ve all seen grainy historical photos of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s —a nearly decade-long confluence of recurring severe droughts, poor farming practices, and plummeting grain prices that devastated much of the Great Plains and drove the largest migration in US history.

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Whose Farm Is More Sustainable? Calculating Farm Sustainability.

DTN

As discussions around sustainably grown grain become more prominent, it raises the question, “What qualifies it as sustainably grown?” It’s a question that has multiple answers since the current sustainable grain market is segmented, with multiple programs initiating their own certification requirements.

Farming 98
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Can Taller Cover Crops Help Clean the Water in Farm Country?

Civil Eats

He was paid to plant it by the Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program , a local effort that seeks to reduce overall fertilizer use by building soil—therefore cutting down on the nutrients that enter waterways—while helping farmers save money.

Crop 137
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Industry Ag News 12/8

Agwired

with AFBF’s Golden Plow award. The Golden Plow is the highest honor the organization gives to sitting members of Congress. International Trade Commission to consider the impacts that tariffs on Moroccan shipments of fertilizers are having on family farms. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.)

Plowing 45
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How sustainable farming is paying off for Australian farmers

Agritecture Blog

But despite the often harsh conditions, agriculture is a key cog in the Australian export economy, with grazing livestock and cereal grain production being the two major pillars. This would not only slash methane emissions but also reduce the land use impact of livestock by eliminating the need for extra grain production as feed.

Farming 52
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Farmers Can Adapt to Alternating Droughts and Floods—Here’s How

The Equation

While a small number of winter crops such as small grains (wheat, oats, barley) and forage and pasture crops such as alfalfa can use some winter rain and snow, western agriculture largely depends on a steady supply of irrigated water that has led to extreme groundwater mining. Agriculture is the largest user of water in the western states.