A support group and a lab in the St. Louis area provide resources for people with the allergy to mammal products — and evidence that its effects can be reversed.
A Desk collaborative project looks at the farming practices — and overlooked solutions — that pump fertilizer runoff into the Gulf of Mexico, causing a persistent "dead zone" and more impacts upstream.
Flowing down the Mississippi River, the excess fertilizer that washes off vast swaths of farmland fuels a persistent “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico and threatens drinking water supplies upstream. Yet despite more than a quarter-century of federal effort and billions spent on potential solutions, experts say the watershed is “not even close” to its targets for fixing the problem.
From the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent journalism collaborative based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, Farm to Trouble examines what can be done to stem the flow of the farm runoff choking the Gulf.
This is the second major collaborative series from the Ag & Water Desk, which was founded in 2021 and began publication in 2022. Our October 2022 project When It Rains won a 2023 Covering Climate Now award and was republished by more than 60 news outlets nationwide.
Lead editors: Tegan Wendland, Ag & Water Desk; Erin Jordan, The Gazette; Kelly McEvers, host of NPR's Embedded podcast
Data visualizations: Jared Whalen, data journalist, Ag & Water Desk
The Ag & Water Desk receives major funding from the Walton Family Foundation, which also funds many organizations within our region. The Desk retains full editorial independence. Please contact info@agwaterdesk.org with any questions.
Organizations referenced in this series that have also received Walton funding: Ducks Unlimited, Tulane University, Gulf Restoration Network, The Nature Conservancy, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Iowa Environmental Council, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Precision Conservation Management, and Lighthawk.
Worsening local effects on health and recreation in states like Minnesota and Wisconsin are spurring action on problems that also cause the Gulf of Mexico’s chronic “dead zone.”
Sluggish progress on reducing nutrient runoff into the Bay marks an inconvenient truth, but offers lessons for others seeking to clean their watersheds.
This summer’s “dead zone,” a low-oxygen area where the river empties into the sea, could span 5,827 square miles across the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana has the power to call for change.
One year away from a federal deadline to reduce nutrient runoff into the Gulf of Mexico by 20%, increases in tile drainage, livestock and fertilizer use have made success unlikely.
