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Why This Matters: Experts say this “growing” problem is mostly due to over-tilling the soil and other unsustainable farming practices. They also say that the erosion isn’t over, and that to save farming in the Midwest, drastic action must be taken. Losing one-third of farmland may not sound like a lot, but there are 127 million acres of agricultural land in the region. Agriculture in the Midwest represents billions of dollars to the nation’s GDP. Massive crop failure there would have devastating ripple effects on the food market, the energy market, and more.
How did we get here?
Evan Thaler, a Ph.D. student at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who worked on the new study, says that decades of plowing the land are to blame. He explained that as farmers tilled the soil, it eroded down hillsides and became vulnerable to wind and water erosion. He said the researchers were able to predict where the lack of topsoil would be most severe, “the [topsoil] was almost always gone on hilltops,” he says. The Agriculture Department has under-estimated the loss of topsoil, according to the study’s authors.
In addition to over-tilling and planting on erosion-prone land, other experts are critical of the two-crop rotation that occurs on a majority of the region’s farmland. Rotating crops, or planting a different crop every season, is crucial to returning nutrients to the soil and ensuring future crop yield. But in the Midwest, farmers have been cycling between two for decades: corn and soybeans. Now, the land is reaping what decades of oversimplified farming practices sowed.
Scientific Debate
Some experts disagree with Thaler’s study and believe he may be overestimating how much topsoil has vanished. Michelle Wander at the University of Illinois said that the study relies too much on assumption and that topsoil may also end up mixed into lower layers of soil rather than vanish. But Thaler is sticking to his guns, and he has supporters across the scientific community. Anna Cates, Minnesota’s state soil health specialist, is one of them. “We’re essentially trying to make up for many years of fairly thoughtless practices,” said Cates, “maybe it’s twenty percent, maybe it’s forty percent. There’s a lot of topsoil gone from the hills.” Thaler believes the federal government isn’t doing enough to save Midwestern soil, “I think the USDA is dramatically underestimating the amount of loss.”
by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer The Department of the Interior announced Friday that it will use funds allocated by a conservation bill passed last year to fund 165 national park improvement projects that will create nearly 19,000 jobs. The Biden administration has pledged to protect 30% of public lands and waters by 2030, but accomplishing that means completing deferred maintenance […]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced late last week a new pricing structure for its federal flood insurance program. The federal government has been subsidizing flood insurance for people in areas defined by the government as flood-prone — the new pricing takes into account the actual risk to people’s homes.
Why This Matters: The prior system was inequitable and FEMA says its new system will mean that low-income people with less valuable homes will pay only their fair share.
by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer On Tuesday, a coalition of conservation organizations signed a letter to the Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland, urging her to deny Burnett Oil Company’s requests to drill for oil in Big Cypress National Preserve which is a part of the Greater Everglades. “The proposed oil extraction activities would be […]
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