Nitrate-nitrogen flowing to the Mississippi River Basin from agricultural lands is the major source of nutrients leading to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. While far away geographically, the Gulf hypoxia problem is intimately linked to the Midwest via the Mississippi River. It is important for the agricultural sector to address these issues proactively rather than have regulation force change.

Hypoxia is not only an environmental problem but also a symptom of larger systemic issues with the dominant Midwestern agriculture system. The same cropping systems that contribute to environmental problems such as hypoxia also leave farmers dependent on federal crop subsidies and rural communities struggling to survive. While the hypoxia issue may be dauntingly complex, it also presents an incredible opportunity to fuel important changes in Midwestern agriculture.

E&A has participated in several policy forums advocating for an incentive-based approach to addressing hypoxia. We have also worked with dozens of farmers throughout the Midwest on better managing nutrients through a nutrient management yardstick. In partnership with the Mississippi River Basin Alliance and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, IATP recently initiated a new project aimed at bringing together the many disparate efforts currently addressing the hypoxia issue and creating a common vision and collaborative framework for addressing hypoxia in a way that not only reduces the hypoxic zone but helps create more sustainable agriculture and food systems and more vibrant rural communities.

For more information about IATP's work on hypoxia and nutrient management, please contact Mark Muller at (612) 870-3420 or via email.

Related publications

• Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico: A Growing Problem
  by Heather Schoonover and Mark Muller
  2002
• Nutrient Management Yardstick
• Nitrogen and the Upper Mississippi River
  by Dennis Keeney and Mark Muller
  September 2000