Nixing nitrate pollution in Iowa

Years ago a farmer let me hunt pheasants on his land. One morning we sat on his porch overlooking a corn field. “My farm produces the fewest bushels per acre in the county but I have the highest profits. My success comes from using old paid for equipment and minimizing chemicals. I have weeds in my fields and money in the bank,” he told me.

Since I moved to Iowa in 1978 water quality has been a constant controversy. For years I’ve heard that voluntary measures on the farm would reduce nitrate pollution. Filter strips, bioretention cells and wetland restorations work but few have been installed. Our water keeps getting dirtier.

Voluntary measures don’t work because it costs an individual farmer money to take crop land out of production to install systems that capture pollutants. It puts him at a competitive disadvantage to farmers who don’t do this.

Farmers are in a bind. Modern farming techniques, working in concert with chemicals, have greatly increased the yield per acre. That, and the conversion of former woodlots and fencerows to expand crop acreage, has inundated us with low priced corn. Good weather further boosts harvests as tariffs trim markets.

Trying to make money by producing ever more corn puts farmers in a vicious cycle. Regulation has potential to help them cut costs and boost profitability. There’s natural resistance to regulation. No one likes being told what they can or can’t do, however well crafted regulations can defang the vicious cycle by putting all farmers on a level playing field.

Regulations mandating a smaller amount of nitrogen that can be applied to each acre will lower demand for the chemical, dropping its price, while reducing the excess that now enters rivers. Lower fertilization also will shrink yield, therefore increasing the value per bushel produced. When practiced widely, regulation can boost farm profitability and clean river water.

I'm not a farmer and recognize that nitrate pollution is a complex issue. My solution is oversimplified. However, I, like most Iowans, live downstream from farms. Because of the over application of fertilizer I can’t swim in state park lakes and my drinking water is compromised. It seems unfair that downstream people must bear these costs so farmers can overproduce overabundant corn. Efficient regulations can help both farmers and downstreamers.

Rich Patterson is a member of the National Circle of Conservation Chiefs.