fertilizer

The Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic "dead zone" at the end of the Mississippi River is seen by satellite south of Louisiana in 2017. NOAA scientists predict it will cover about 4,100 square miles this summer. (Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Gulf “dead zone” predicted to be twice the size of national goal. Again.

BY: - June 5, 2023

Scientists have released their 2023 forecast for the so-called “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico — predicting it will be around 4,100 square miles this summer. That’s much bigger than last year, but still smaller than average. The dead zone is a hypoxic area where low oxygen can kill fish and other marine life. It’s caused by […]

EPA sued over failure to set, update pollution limits 

BY: - April 11, 2023

More than a dozen environmental groups are suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to set water pollution limits for some industrial contaminants as well as its reluctance to update decades-old standards for others, arguing that the agency’s inaction amounts to a “free pass to pollute” for hundreds of chemical and fertilizer plants, […]

A Cargill chicken farm near Ponca, Arkansas. Pinpointing the locations of chicken farms in Arkansas can be hard because individual nutrient (waste) management plans are not public records. (Image from Google Earth)

Chicken farms hide in plain sight under Arkansas law

BY: - March 6, 2023

If you drive down the winding country roads west of Ponca, Arkansas, you might come across a stretch of land with three long structures — metal roofs, green siding. Just off the county highway, down a short clip of gravel road, you’d see a sign marking the poultry farm as a Cargill operation. It would […]

USDA hopes to boost fertilizer production as soon as next year

BY: - September 28, 2022

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $500 million to increase domestic fertilizer production, doubling its previous commitment, the agency announced. The federal dollars would boost long-term projects and ready-to-go proposals that might have an effect as early as next year. Some of the first projects to get funding from the Fertilizer Production Expansion Program […]