The Negative Impact Of Farming In Iowa

Furthermore, factory farms pollute drinking water sources. Manure and fertilizers are rich in nitrates and phosphates, which are very unhealthy for living things. They pollute groundwater sources by seeping in through lagoons of waste sewage that factory farms create. Lagoons of animal feces and spent fertilizers are a very cheap way of dealing with waste (NRDC). The chemicals travel through the soil to groundwater that the local communities depend on. Ingesting nitrate tainted water will lower the amount of oxygen a person can intake. This can lead to death for infants. Some of the pollutants can reach open waters if they are carried by rain or irrigation water, called runoff. Runoff pollutes ponds, lakes, oceans, and other open bodies of water. Polluted waters with high levels of nitrates kill fish, aquatic plants, and other aquatic organisms because they experience the same problems with oxygen intake. High levels of phosphorus in our waters cause algae blooms in open bodies of water. Algae blooms disrupt the ecosystem in the water and kill the organisms living in the water. They use up all the oxygen in

The Colorado River compact has been the most beneficial project for the seven states that share it. The river has 29 dams that serve different purposes together with hundreds of miles of canals. Many farmers have been known to divert the river into their own farms to be used for irrigation. Irrigated land accounts for four million acres of the total land use. This relates to a large percentage of water used for agriculture. The products got from constant irrigation are a major economic boost to both the farmers and the United States. This also enhances living standards due to income earned by such farmers (Michael, 2010). This has enabled them to feed not only their states, but also the other neighboring countries through

The culprit this time around is the farmland that makes up 63% of the Lake Erie watershed, or, more specifically, the potent phosphorous fertilizers being improperly applied to the land (McLean et al., 2014). Growing demand for food has placed increased pressure on farmers’ crop production, so many farmers compromise using more fertilizer less efficiently in

The Neuse River has played a vital role throughout much of the history of North Carolina. In recent decades however the river has seen degradation of its health and ecology via massive amounts of point and non-point source pollution. The result has been numerous events of eutrophication, resulting in the ecological “dead zones” found throughout the river. Notable contributors of this pollution have been industrial plants and agriculture, most notably power plants and hog farms. As a result, federal and state agencies have enacted strict regulations and water quality standards and procedures to monitor the tributaries, estuarine areas, and main stem of the greater Neuse River watershed.

Overall, the more macroinvertebrates in the water, the healthier the stream. pH is a measure of how acidic or basic water is. It is measured on a scale from 0-14. 0 is the most acidic, 14 is the most basic, and 7 is neutral. It is the measure of the relative amount of free hydrogen and hydroxide ions in the water. Acidic water has more hydrogen ions, and basic water has more hydroxide ions. When water’s pH is around neutral (7), that is a suitable and healthy living environment for fish, and indicates a healthy stream. If the water is too acidic or too basic, it can be harmful to the aquatic life. Dissolved oxygen is a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water. As the amount of dissolved oxygen drops below normal levels in water bodies, the water quality is harmed and creatures begin to die off as a result of eutrophication. The higher the level of dissolved oxygen, the healthier the stream. When there is a lot of dissolved oxygen present it makes for a safe environment for fish to live and reproduce. Having all this healthy fish can provide us with food, so overall the more dissolved oxygen, the better. Nitrates are a compound found in fertilizers that is used to help plants grow. It is what is given off as a result of the use of nitrogen in water. The organisms in the soil eat the nitrates and it helps the metabolism and the health of organisms. Plants, such as Algae use nitrates as a source

A centerpiece of the water quality battle is the North Raccoon, where the water runoff from farms is ruining the river. In the article, “The North Raccoon: A River of Controversy and Undiscovered Beauty,” Mike Kilen (2017) claims, Steve Roe of Panora

I conducted a survey of Pulaski county residents to get their opinion about the Pulaski county water supply. The purpose of the survey is to get others viewpoint of Pulaski County drinking water so that we can improve our waters system. In the Article “Arkansas Rivers is Too Polluted to Touch” written on April 24, 2000, it states “The river is fairly clean as it flows into Wichita, but by the time it leaves the city, the water is so dirty it is not safe for wading, fishing and touching, said Tom Stiles, chief of the office of planning and prevention at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The river also is not safe for canoeing, kayaking or water skiing.” Have Arkansas Rivers improved within 14 years? This question will help us to see how far Arkansas Rivers have come since the year 2000. According to Carl Safina in “Song for the Blue Ocean” he discussed how pollution can interfere with not only wildlife and aquatic animals, but humans as well. Pollution can get into our water system causing bacteria and diseases. These waters are the same that runs in our faucets and pipelines. I will discuss resent studies of central Arkansas water quality later in the survey report.

Currently, Iowa has some of the worst waters in the nation. The Clean Water Act requires states to biannually test surface water to determine impairments. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources defines impairment as “A waterbody is impaired when its water quality does not fully support that waterbody’s designated uses for human contact, aquatic life, or drinking water.” They note that an impairment on one part of a stream or river does not necessarily mean that at other points of the waterbody it is constituted as impaired. The meaning deals with what the waterbody is designated for and whether it meets the standards set for that use.

These farmers provide us crops like corn, lettuce, wheat, and lots of other great things, so if they don’t get the water they need for there crops we won't have any of their crops. The people that like in these 7 states need their water because they depend on this water everyday.

Firstly, in Bloomington Illinois, there are plenty of farms which means plenty of farmers using fertilizer. If it were to rain after a farmer used a heavy amount of fertilizer then it could run off into the creek which would cause eutrophication which could potentially kill off many of the organisms living in the creek (as this would cause a large boom in algae population). Lastly a way humans can affect the creek (or rather has been affecting the creek already) is through littering in general, when observations were being made on the creek numerous pieces of trash were discovered, plastic bags, beer cans, and a twelve pack of a beer box. Littering will pollute the creek which can kill organisms and damage the surrounding ecosystem. Animals or small organisms that use the creek as a water source no longer will be able to as it is now polluted. Even though littering was discovered around the creek it was minimal enough that this did not hamper the water quality enough to bring it down from a excellent to

High amounts of nitrate from agricultural field watershed contaminate the groundwater, creating a consumption hazard. A nitrate level greater than 10 mg/L causes negative health effects for the local population and aquatic organisms.

Growing up on a small family wheat farm in southwestern Oklahoma, I have experienced the harsh conditions of farming firsthand. The job that used to employ the largest amount of people in the United States has lost the support and the respect of the American people. The Jeffersonian Ideal of a nation of farmers has been tossed aside to be replaced by a nation of white-collar workers. The family farm is under attack and it is not being protected. The family farm can help the United States economically by creating jobs in a time when many cannot afford the food in the stores. The family farm can help prevent the degradation of the environment by creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the people producing the food and nature. The family farm is the answer to many of the tough questions facing the United States today, but these small farms are going bankrupt all too often. The government’s policy on farming is the largest factor in what farms succeed, but simple economics, large corporations, and society as a whole influence the decline in family farms; small changes in these areas will help break up the huge corporate farms, keeping the small family farm afloat.

Before the European settlement of Iowa, the state was a land covered in tall prairie grasses, wetlands, and small forests. The Native Americans thrived on these lands by using pockets of the fertile soil for agriculture and hunting the abundance of wildlife that roamed these plains. By the late 1800s however, the prairie had become farmland and the Europeans had begun their new lives along Iowa’s waterways and railroads. Within a century Iowa’s landscape had changed rapidly due to human activity.

cadium, and when humans eat the crop it may result in acute liver and kidney

While industrial farming has its many benefits, there are many negative outcomes to this particularly "new" way of farming. Industrial farming is introducing an innovative way of food production through the latest technologies, and as all of this is happening the world we live in is dying, we are dying and these animals are dying. So then how is industrial farming defined? According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, industrial farming is defined as a farm on which large numbers of livestock are raised indoors in conditions intended to maximize production at minimal cost. This is a big problem, this way of farming is seen all over the world, and some countries are facing the severity of industrial farming worse than others.