Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): Toledo

USDA-funded projects help farmers protect water and wildlife

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: January 29, 2015

Earlier this month, the USDA authorized nearly $400 million in federal funds through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) to improve soil quality, water quality and quantity, and wildlife habitat.

The program funded 115 initiatives covering a wide range of conservation benefits, from improving wildlife conservation efforts in California’s ricelands to reducing fertilizer runoff in the Mississippi River Basin.

These projects demonstrate that by prioritizing spending of conservation dollars on projects where large numbers of farmers are committed to cooperative conservation, we can avoid the need for costly regulatory programs. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged california, California Rice Commission, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, conservation, ecosystems, farm bill, fertilizer, funding, grant, Lake Erie, phosphorus, regional conservation partnership program, sustainable agriculture, Tom Vilsak, USDA, water quality, western water | Comments are closed

Will Ohio’s proposed fertilizer legislation solve the runoff problem?

By Karen Chapman / Bio / Published: December 4, 2014

Proposed legislation in Ohio would regulate when farmers can apply fertilizer to their fields.

The Ohio General Assembly will vote next week on legislation that aims to address the problem of nutrient pollution, which was responsible for a massive algae bloom in Lake Erie that contaminated the drinking water of more than 400,000 Ohio residents this past August.

In short, the bill would ban application of fertilizer on land that is frozen, covered by snow, saturated with rain, or when the weather predicts a certain amount of rainfall. Those who violate the ban could face penalties of up to $10,000.

Policies that set rational ground rules for when farmers can apply fertilizer to their fields and that create real incentives to reduce nutrient pollution are important, but it’s going to take more than legislation to solve the runoff problem. Read More »

Posted in Supply Chain / Also tagged agriculture, ecosystems, fertilizer, fertilizer optimization, hypoxia, Lake Erie, nitrogen, nutrient pollution, Ohio General Assembly, phosphorus, soil health, sustainable agriculture, toxic algae, water quality, western water | Comments are closed

A business-smart approach to ending fertilizer pollution

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 6, 2014

Toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie. Photo credit: NOAA

The toxic algae scare in Toledo this past summer really drove home the problem of fertilizer pollution in this country, right through the faucets of half a million unsuspecting residents. Don’t drink the water, officials warned. Don’t even touch it.

We need and rely on farmers every day for our well-being. But when producing food for a growing population threatens to deprive us of water, another life essential, it’s time to rethink the way we feed America.

That’s why I’m so excited about EDF’s new Sustainable Sourcing Initiative. Our goal in this collaborative effort is to engage every player in the U.S. grain supply chain to solve what has been an intractable problem for decades.

The challenge

Fertilizer, of course, is necessary for achieving high crop yields. But its inefficient use contributes to climate instability and causes dead zones that contaminate water supplies and kill millions of fish each year.

Posted in Supply Chain / Also tagged agriculture, Chesapeake Bay, ecosystems, fertilizer, food production, food security, Lake Erie, nitrogen, Partnerships, toxic algae, Walmart | Comments are closed

How the marketplace is driving clean water solutions

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 17, 2014

Federal and state governments aren’t doing enough to keep polluted runoff from reaching America’s waterways. That’s the conclusion the Environmental Protection Agency – aka the federal government – has reached in a new report from the office of its inspector general.

Anyone surprised?

Government has tried to reign in nutrient pollution for decades, only to watch dead zones persist in the Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie. Just last month, a toxic brew of urban and agricultural runoff shut down Toledo’s water for two days. Seven weeks later, many of the city’s half million residents are still afraid to drink what’s coming out of the tap.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, Chesapeake Bay, cover crops, dead zones, ecosystems, EPA, fertilizer, grain production, Gulf of Mexico, hypoxia, Lake Erie, nutrient efficiency, polluted runoff, sustainable agriculture, toxic algae, water quality, western water | Comments are closed

Lake Erie’s fertilizer problem isn’t over, but we’re working on it

By Karen Chapman / Bio / Published: August 6, 2014

Fertilizer is the engine of agriculture, but its inefficient use means that excess fertilizer ends up in our waterways, contaminating freshwater supplies and causing algae blooms, such as those that recently cut off water supplies to hundreds of thousands of residents in Toledo, OH. In addition to impacts on communities, algae blooms also affect ecosystems, killing millions of fish and harming the seafood and recreation industries.

Nutrient runoff from fertilizer is a problem that many stakeholders, including farmers, have been trying to fix for many years, both in the Western Lake Erie Basin and beyond. The efforts to date have had a real impact, but that impact has not been nearly enough to solve the problem of dangerous and costly dead zones.

We need to do much more at a much larger scale, while also increasing productivity to feed a growing population.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged Adapt Network, ecosystems, fertilizer, fertilizer runoff, General Mills, Lake Erie, Ohio, sustainable agriculture, toxic algae, Walmart, water contamination, water quality, western water | Comments are closed