A central Illinois farmer is speaking out about the conundrum he faces: He does not want polluted waterways, but he has to use synthetic fertilizer to make ends meet.
Nitrogen fertilizer helps increase crop yields, leading some farmers to over-apply it to their fields.
Doug Downs has been farming for decades and grows mostly corn and soybeans. He said synthetic fertilizer provides a way of life for him and many Midwest farmers.
"Corn will grow without applied nitrogen," Downs explained. "It just won't grow and produce as well without additionally supplied nitrogen."
Downs is trying to cut back by participating in a program offering incentives for climate-friendly farming practices to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen runoff. The Union of Concerned Scientists, a national science-based nonprofit, estimated that Midwestern farms dump the equivalent of 3,000 shipping containers of nitrogen into the Gulf of Mexico each year.
There are no national regulations regarding nitrogen use by farmers. Farmers who want an alternative must voluntarily use methods like cover crops, which slowly add nitrogen to soil over time. Downs has cover crops on about a quarter of his farm and said he’s always looking for new ways to improve them.
"I drive around in the dead of winter looking at cover crops," Downs noted. "I pay attention to what other people do and see what works and what doesn't."
But Downs acknowledged it is too expensive to put them on all his fields, even with government incentives. Cover crops also do not provide as much nitrogen as synthetic fertilizers. The price of fertilizers can fluctuate, but Downs spends about $100,000 a year on them. He explained it is most practical for him to buy fertilizer when prices fall. However, the fertilizer must be immediately applied to the soil, even outside of the growing season, because it's difficult to store, which creates the potential for more runoff.
"The problem is that we had to take delivery of that nitrogen, essentially apply it, in the fall," Downs emphasized. "We can't store it unless you have humongous, gigantic, on-farm storage tanks, which is just absolutely impractical. How can I, as a businessman, not buy an input for half the cost?"
Doug is committed to using less synthetic fertilizer, but stressed it has to make sense financially. He added that his definition of sustainability is being able to put his kids through school and make his mortgage payments, but he certainly does not want to pollute his water.
This story is based on original reporting by Garrett Hazelwood and Eric Schmid for the Food and Environment Reporting Network.
The Public News Service and the Illinois News Connection originally published the story.
