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Corn farmers take nutrient message to Gulf

The director of conservation and nutrient stewardship with the Illinois Corn Growers Association says efforts by farmers to limit nutrient loss are being noticed.

Megan Dwyer recently led a group to Louisiana to see the issues being faced downstream.

“We met with some shrimpers. We met with researchers.”  She says, “We met with folks trying to restore the coastline. Louisiana loses more coastline than anywhere else in the world annually.”

Dwyer says the group was able to share details of conservation practices some Midwest farmers are implementing to help address the hypoxia zone in the Gulf of Mexico. 

“It’s not easy just to start using cover crops or make a major change in your former tillage practices.”  She says, “There’s the capital investments, there’s the management and time. There’s just learning how to do something new, and so it’s a very complex issue and it takes time.”

She tells Brownfield…

“Just as much as farming is a tradition for us, the aquaculture and commercial fishing industry in the South is very much so a generational industry and there’s a lot of things that we can relate on.”  She says, “And I think it helps when you know and you can think about a face on the other side of the issue.”

Dwyer says plans are in development to bring Louisiana leaders to Illinois to see conservation practices in fields firsthand.

AUDIO: Megan Dwyer – Illinois Corn Growers Association

Photo submitted by Megan Dwyer