Flowing down the Mississippi River, the excess fertilizer that washes off vast swaths of farmland fuels a persistent “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico and threatens drinking water supplies upstream. Yet despite more than a quarter-century of federal effort and billions spent on potential solutions, experts say the watershed is “not even close” to its targets for fixing the problem.
From the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent journalism collaborative based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America, Farm to Trouble examines what can be done to stem the flow of the farm runoff choking the Gulf.
The series was released June 18, 2024 and, like all of the Ag & Water Desk’s work, is free for news outlets to publish, adapt and localize. Editors can sign up here for access and future story alerts.
Stories:
- Part 1: Farm to Trouble: As conservation lags, so does progress in slashing Gulf’s ‘dead zone’
- Part 2: At the mouth of the Mississippi, Louisiana bears the burden of upstream runoff. Why doesn’t it push for solutions?
- Part 3: Not just a Gulf problem: Mississippi River farm runoff pollutes upstream waters
- Part 4: Could the Mississippi River benefit from Chesapeake Bay’s strategy to improve water quality?
- Dig deeper: “We should have a sense of urgency”: Drainage tile drives nutrient pollution
- (New! Aug. 15, 2024) Listen on NPR: To heal the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, we have to look north to Midwest farms
This is the second major collaborative series from the Ag & Water Desk, which was founded in 2021 and began publication in 2022. Our October 2022 project When It Rains won a 2023 Covering Climate Now award and was republished by more than 60 news outlets nationwide.
Farm to Trouble credits:
Contributing reporters & news outlets: Erin Jordan, The Gazette (Iowa); Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens (New Orleans); Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch; Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio; Joy Mazur, Columbia Missourian (Missouri); and Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal (Kentucky).
Lead editors: Tegan Wendland, Ag & Water Desk; Erin Jordan, The Gazette; Kelly McEvers, host of NPR’s Embedded podcast
Data visualizations: Jared Whalen, data journalist, Ag & Water Desk
The Ag & Water Desk receives major funding from the Walton Family Foundation, which also funds many organizations within our region. The Desk retains full editorial independence. Please contact info@agwaterdesk.org with any questions.
Organizations referenced in this series that have also received Walton funding: Ducks Unlimited, Tulane University, Gulf Restoration Network, The Nature Conservancy, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Iowa Environmental Council, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Precision Conservation Management, and Lighthawk.