An estimated quarter of all phosphorus runoff in the Midwest and 40% of all nitrogen runoff from farming practices comes from just three states — Illinois, Indiana and Iowa.
Last year, the EPA called out nitrate pollution, largely from agriculture, in southeastern Minnesota. Now a bill to raise taxes on fertilizer is moving through the Minnesota Legislature.
Scientists are predicting the low-oxygen “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico will be around 4,100 square miles this summer — smaller than average, but still more than twice the size of a federal goal that seeks to reduce nutrient runoff from fertilizer use on Midwest farms.
The Iowa House passed — and sent on to Gov. Kim Reynolds — a budget that could eliminate state funding for water quality sensors on Iowa’s rivers and streams.
