And there go the prairie potholes....

[Bonasababy]

I dont think any of them are bad people for doing what they do, they are doing what they feel is best for their bottom line. I do the same and would if i was them. I cant stop doing what i do for work, even though its got obvious impacts.

I blame the corporations who have captured the industry, legislators, and regulators.

A lot of whats "farmed" should be "ranched" instead, and would be if heavily subsidzied crop insurance didnt incentivize otherwise.

Around here, cattle operations...whether you call them ranchers or farmers....are generally less impactful on natural resources. Many of them help support the stuff we hunt as well.

 

[R.K.]

Small farmers do this also. They have to. Where are you in Montana? mtmuley

I’m in Billings. But grew up in the lower Midwest corn belt.

 

[Gellar]

I doubt that anyone outside of Iowa is following our political races but our governor race and our secretary of ag race are pretty heated over water quality, big ag and exactly what we are talking about. The Democrat running for secretary of ag is a water quality expert and was a research engineer at the university of Iowa. he wrote a very good book called The Swine Republic. He talks big about how small farmers have been forced down this path by big ag and how it is not sustainable. I doubt that he gets elected, but he is doing a good job of bringing attention to the issues facing Iowans from water quality to losing the family farm.

 

[elkduds]

Comment submitted, thanks for posting.

 

[westbranch]

It's interesting the dislike for agriculture on HT. mmtuley

It's interesting when any sort of criticism of farmers or ranchers is viewed as dislike of agriculture. I grew up on a MN dairy, family still works in ag, in-laws farm corn and soybeans in IA and I have worked professionally with farmers and ranchers as a CPA. Not hard for someone with less exposure to see that there are huge issues with the incentives and systems.



My dad had a dairy farmer friend that always said he knew which ones of his kids would be farmers because they were the ones that spent the most time crying as babies. Its good when someone knows how to poke fun at themselves.

 

[westbranch]

Iowa corn growers association says 62% of the corn grown in Iowa goes to ethanol. 21% goes to livestock feed.

First we need to debate the difference between a rancher and a farmer.

ag is no different than any other profession. A few bad apples spoils the whole basket.

Overall 35%-40% of US corn harvested goes to ethanol. 30 million acres. Solar panels would produce the same amount of energy on about 1 million acres.

 

[Wes Mantooth]

This is yet another example of industrialized ag shitting the bed. Iowa seems like ground zero for how not to do things....
Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate in the United States and is one of the few states where diagnoses are still increasing.

Environmental and Agricultural Factors

• • Nitrate in Water: High levels of nitrogen fertilizers and livestock manure run into local water supplies, creating widespread nitrate contamination linked to certain cancers.
  • Agricultural Chemicals: Heavy use of popular farm weed-killers and crop treatments—such as glyphosate, atrazine, and acetochlor—creates potential everyday exposure for rural and surrounding communities

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Who here is old enough to remember George H.W. Bush's campaign promise of "No net loss of wetlands in the U.S.?" Just me?

How George H.W. Bush (eventually) rescued U.S. wetlands

On the campaign trail in 1988, presidential hopeful George H.W. Bush made a remarkable promise: His administration would set a national goal of "no net loss

www.eenews.net

 

[SerialScience]

"The latest annual report from the Iowa Cancer Registry shows the state has the second-highest rate of cancer in the country and is one of only a few states where cancer rates are on the rise."

Not to mention it's literally killing people.

https://www.npr.org/2026/07/27/nx-s1-5900895/water-cancer-iowa-governor-midterms-democrats-sand-maha-lahn

Poisoned Wells: Iowa’s Fertilizer Crisis - Petrie-Flom Center

Iowa is the only state bounded on either side by major rivers, fitting borders for a state whose prosperity is defined by water. The state has long been one of the nation’s most agriculturally productive.

petrieflom.law.harvard.edu

 

[R.K.]

"The latest annual report from the Iowa Cancer Registry shows the state has the second-highest rate of cancer in the country and is one of only a few states where cancer rates are on the rise."

Not to mention it's literally killing people.

https://www.npr.org/2026/07/27/nx-s1-5900895/water-cancer-iowa-governor-midterms-democrats-sand-maha-lahn

Poisoned Wells: Iowa’s Fertilizer Crisis - Petrie-Flom Center

Iowa is the only state bounded on either side by major rivers, fitting borders for a state whose prosperity is defined by water. The state has long been one of the nation’s most agriculturally productive.

petrieflom.law.harvard.edu

I mean, with the amount of roundup and atrazine, it shouldn’t surprise anyone.