[FLPERMACULTURE] U.S. Corn Boom Has Downside for Gulf

[Joseph Wetmore]

Sent from Express News

JEFFERSON, Iowa - Because of rising demand for
ethanol, American
 farmers are growing more corn than at any time since
the Depression. And sea
 life in the Gulf of Mexico is paying the price.

The nation's corn crop is fertilized with millions of
pounds of
 nitrogen-based fertilizer. And when that nitrogen
runs off fields in Corn Belt
 states, it makes its way to the Mississippi River and
eventually pours
 into the Gulf, where it contributes to a growing
"dead zone" - a
 7,900-square-mile patch so depleted of oxygen that
fish, crabs and shrimp
 suffocate.

The dead zone was discovered in 1985 and has grown
fairly steadily
 since then, forcing fishermen to venture farther and
farther out to sea to
 find their catch. For decades, fertilizer has been
considered the prime
 cause of the lifeless spot.

With demand for corn booming, some researchers fear
the dead zone will
 expand rapidly, with devastating consequences.

"We might be coming close to a tipping point," said
Matt Rota, director
 of the water resources program for the New
Orleans-based Gulf
 Restoration Network, an environmental group. "The
ecosystem might change or
 collapse as opposed to being just impacted."

Environmentalists had hoped to cut nitrogen runoff by
encouraging
 farmers to apply less fertilizer and establish
buffers along waterways. But
 the demand for the corn-based fuel additive ethanol
has driven up the
 price for the crop, which is selling for about $4 per
bushel, up from a
 little more than $2 in 2002.

That enticed American farmers - mostly in Iowa,
Illinois, Minnesota,
 North Dakota and South Dakota - to plant more than 93
million acres of
 corn in 2007, the most since 1933. They substituted
corn for other crops,
 or made use of land not previously in cultivation.

Corn is more "leaky" than crops such as soybean and
alfalfa - that is,
 it absorbs less nitrogen per acre. The prime reasons
are the drainage
 systems used in corn fields and the timing of when
the fertilizer is
 applied.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up
to 210 million
 pounds of nitrogen fertilizer enter the Gulf of
Mexico each year.
 Scientists had no immediate estimate for 2007, but
said they expect the amount
 of fertilizer going into streams to increase with
more acres of corn
 planted.

"Corn agriculture practices release a lot of
nitrogen," said Donald
 Scavia, a University of Michigan professor who has
studied corn
 fertilizer's effect on the dead zone. "More corn
equals more nitrogen pollution."

Farmers realize the connection between their crop and
problems
 downstream, but with the price of corn soaring, it
doesn't make sense to grow
 anything else. And growing corn isn't profitable
without nitrogen-based
 fertilizer.

"I think you have to try to be a good steward of the
land," said Jerry
 Peckumn, who farms corn and soybeans on about 2,000
acres he owns or
 leases near the Iowa community of Jefferson. "But on
the other hand, you
 can't ignore the price of corn."

Peckumn grows alfalfa and natural grass on the 220 or
so acres he owns,
 but said he cannot afford to experiment on the land
he rents.

The dead zone typically begins in the spring and
persists into the
 summer. Its size and location vary each year because
of currents, weather
 and other factors, but it is generally near the mouth
of the
 Mississippi.

This year, it is the third-biggest on record. It was
larger in 2002 and
 2001, when it covered 8,500 and 8,006 square miles
respectively.

Soil erosion, sewage and industrial pollution also
contribute to the
 dead zone, but fertilizer is believed to be the chief
factor.

Fertilizer causes explosive growth of algae, which
then dies and sinks
 to the bottom, where it sucks up oxygen as it decays.
This creates a
 deep layer of oxygen-depleted ocean where creatures
either escape or die.

Bottom-dwelling species such as crabs and oysters are
most at risk,
 said Michelle Perez, an analyst with the
Washington-based Environmental
 Working Group. "They struggle to survive," Perez
said. "They can't swim
 away."

Crabbers complained at a meeting in Louisiana earlier
this year that
 they pulled up bucket upon bucket of dead crabs.

Rota warned that if the corn boom continues, the Gulf
of Mexico could
 see an "ecological regime change." The fear is that
the zone will grow
 so big that most sea life won't be able to escape it,
leading to an even
 bigger die-off.

"People's livelihood depends on the shrimp, fish and
crabs in these
 waters," he said. "Already, some of these shrimpers
are traveling longer
 and longer distances to catch anything."

Given the market pressure to grow corn, the Natural
Resources Defense
 Council and others argue that the nation needs a
comprehensive, federal
 approach to the problem.

Among the ideas floated: rules to force farmers to use
fertilizers with
 more care, and the establishment of buffer zones to
contain runoff.



By HENRY C. JACKSON     Associated Press Writer


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