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.

 

[twraska]

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. It’s good when someone knows how to poke fun at themselves.

It seems like the majority of folks here forget that without the grain loss that the waterfowl eat, there would be a lot less birds. Don’t believe me? Just come here to Eagle Lake, a town that used to call itself goose hunting capitol of the world. DU built ponds all over the prairie but drought cut the water supply off. You have to look really hard to see a bunch of geese since the acreage was drastically cut. Same land, same wetlands, plus manmade habitat….. with the rice, birds are non-existent.

So, my point is, those bashing the farmers really need to get educated because they do not know the whole story and what contributes to the population.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

He says trump administration wrong... I wonder what % of their members voted for this.

19K views · 355 reactions | DU does not raise alarms unless the situation demands it. Proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service changes threaten long-standing protections of conservation easements in the Prairie Pothole Region – rules that safegua

DU does not raise alarms unless the situation demands it. Proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service changes threaten long-standing protections of conservation easements in the Prairie Pothole...

www.facebook.com

 

[Mustangs Rule]

The farmers run tile to dry the land out earlier in the spring to plant when they want, then sink irrigation wells to put water on the ground to make up for what they drained with the tile. All so they can farm places that never should have been cleared and farmed in the first place.

I don’t blame them- they are using whatever legal tools at their disposal to stay in business. It’s tough, I get it. But at some point, we need to recognize the negative effects of this and curtail the bad practices.

The aquifer is depleting at an incredible rate, runoff is at an all time high, and nobody seems to want to do anything about it. Plus nitrate pollution in the waterways leading to big fish kills, and nitrate pollution rising in the groundwater.

We need to change how we do agriculture, and we need to do it fast. Because wildlife suffers first, but we will suffer not long after.

I live in the west and do not understand what "running tile" to dry out the land is all about. Please explain. Thx

 

[warmer]

I live in the west and do not understand what "running tile" to dry out the land is all about. Please explain. Thx

Google "drain tiling in ag land"

 

[R.K.]

I live in the west and do not understand what "running tile" to dry out the land is all about. Please explain. Thx

They cut a trench and bury 4” corrugated plastic pipe with holes in it about 18” deep. They’ll do it to the entire field on a grid to improve drainage.

 

[NoWiser]

They cut a trench and bury 4” corrugated plastic pipe with holes in it about 18” deep. They’ll do it to the entire field on a grid to improve drainage.

To expand on that, the pipe is typically discharged into drainage ditches or streams. It essentially takes water that should be creating wetlands or recharging the aquifers and sends it directly into our waterways, often loaded with additional nutrients.

 

[SAJ-99]

It seems like the majority of folks here forget that without the grain loss that the waterfowl eat, there would be a lot less birds. Don’t believe me? Just come here to Eagle Lake, a town that used to call itself goose hunting capitol of the world. DU built ponds all over the prairie but drought cut the water supply off. You have to look really hard to see a bunch of geese since the acreage was drastically cut. Same land, same wetlands, plus manmade habitat….. with the rice, birds are non-existent.

So, my point is, those bashing the farmers really need to get educated because they do not know the whole story and what contributes to the population.

Eagle Lake, TX? I can't tell because you don't put a location on your user ID.
If you are going to try to argue that farmers are beneficial to waterfowl, you are going to have a tough go of it without sounding foolish. Try to stick to arguing that this rule change was necessary in any way.

 

[BuzzH]

He says trump administration wrong... I wonder what % of their members voted for this.

19K views · 355 reactions | DU does not raise alarms unless the situation demands it. Proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service changes threaten long-standing protections of conservation easements in the Prairie Pothole Region – rules that safegua

DU does not raise alarms unless the situation demands it. Proposed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service changes threaten long-standing protections of conservation easements in the Prairie Pothole...

www.facebook.com

#winning, bigly.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Eagle Lake, TX? I can't tell because you don't put a location on your user ID.
If you are going to try to argue that farmers are beneficial to waterfowl, you are going to have a tough go of it without sounding foolish. Try to stick to arguing that this rule change was necessary in any way.

Are you going to tell them about the change in the type of rice that is being grown there now vs. the 90's, the fact that they have been growing rice in the AR delta for 20+ years, and the effects of climate change on waterfowl migration, or should I?

 

[R.K.]

Are you going to tell them about the change in the type of rice that is being grown there now vs. the 90's, the fact that they have been growing rice in the AR delta for 20+ years, and the effects of climate change on waterfowl migration, or should I?

It mostly comes back to how much stubble, residue, and water is left during the migration. The entire state of IL seems to get a fall chisel plow these days, the AR delta mows down the rice stubble and drains the fields (unless leased out for hunting), and most of it gets pesticide applications so the invertebrates the ducks eat during warmer weather are severely diminished.

The one crop that seems to get left for stubble is wheat in the prairie pothole region (helps catch snow and retain moisture), but that isn't where wintering ducks are, and the pintails nest in it the following spring only to get their nests plowed under during planting season.

Modern agriculture is apocalyptic for most wildlife.