Inspired by a successful campaign in Minnesota, the groups are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to step in and protect drinking water in northeast Iowa from agricultural runoff.
Some Iowa growers opt for growing crops outside of the big corn and soybean markets. Farmers and experts hope that, amid the challenges, are potential wins for better health, stronger local economies and an improved environment.
The collaboration between Iowa State University and Alliant Energy is the first utility-scale agrivoltaics project in the Midwest. Researchers will raise bees and plant vegetables, fruits and pollinator habitat within the 10-acre solar farm.
Belle Plaine is scraping the bottom of its water reserves and is searching for reprieve and solutions. It’s not the only Iowa town suffering amid the record drought.
A fifth of reported heat-related deaths between 2017 and 2022 were agricultural workers, according to OSHA data. Academics, occupational health specialists, and advocacy groups are calling attention to the under-reported impact of climate change on this group from heatwaves.
Nearly 250 million acres of the Great Plains have been converted to cropland as of 2020. Farmers and wildlife both suffer from the depletion of prairies.
