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.
From the 'Farm to Trouble' series: Thomas Olander, on his boat in Cypremort Point, Louisiana, shows off the nets his family uses to catch shrimp in Vermilion Bay. He's watched his catch shrink over the years, thanks to the dead zone in the Gulf. Credit: La’Shance Perry, The Lens
The USDA recently announced it’s investing $1.5 billion in funding to help farmers, ranchers and landowners expand local conservation programs. Many of the 92 projects seek to reduce agricultural nutrient runoff: fertilizer washing away from Midwest fields, causing significant environmental impacts downstream.
It’s a massive problem in the Mississippi River Basin. Once the polluted water reaches the Gulf of Mexico, the fertilizer fuels algae blooms that consume the oxygen, creating a dead zone where marine life struggles to survive. Earlier this year, we explored why the region has failed to reduce the dead zone in our series “Farm to Trouble.”
As one Missouri farmer, Doug Doughty, put it: "It is obvious that we have a problem here. We’re responsible for it, and we should have more of a sense of urgency when it comes to nutrients leaving our fields."
Newly funded projects across the Basin target Tennessee's Duck River and Western Highland Rim region, projects on the Ohio River, and the Turkey River and Little Maquoketa River watersheds, which flow into the Mississippi River in Iowa's Driftless Region.
Are you working on one of these projects, or on sustainable agriculture and water quality anywhere in the Basin? We'd love to hear from you. Email Irina@agwaterdesk.org.
Sincerely,
Irina Zhorov Assistant Director, Ag & Water Desk
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The entire Farm to Trouble series was a big lift. Five reporters working at five outlets reported on complex, Basin-wide issues with nutrient runoff. Their reporting gave detailed accounts of the problems from runoff, from the Gulf’s “dead zone” to fisheries and water supplies upstream.
The story also analyzed potential solutions. This kind of reporting takes time and intense coordination to maintain a rigorous and regional perspective. Many of the smaller rural outlets that published our pieces would not have been able to produce them on their own. Help us keep sending big stories to the people affected by them by donating to the Desk today.
Many agricultural staples today, like corn, soy, wheat, barley and others, are planted into the ground each growing season. After harvest, the soil is left bare or farmers plant cover crops in those fields over the winter. Kernza, by contrast, stays in the ground for several years, and can produce multiple harvests in that time.
By Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio
Gregory Campbell, 66, left, and his wife Cheryl Sachtleben, 66, right, enjoy kernza beer on Sept. 4 during the release party of the brew at the Blue Jay Brewing in St. Louis' Midtown neighborhood. Credit: Sophie Proe/St. Louis Public Radio
