Department of Agriculture anticipates national farm income to fall by a fifth. Please add and to your contactsĪ report from the University of Missouri found that net farm income in the state is projected to decrease by 14 percent this year, while the U.S. “If you spend more and then don't make any more, then you're in trouble,” Shryock said. Bruce Shryock, a corn, soybean and wheat farmer in Auxvasse, Missouri, said farmers are stuck between science and the economy. ⧉ Related article: A lifetime of research links Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ to Midwest fertilizer runoffįarmers are responsible for the cost of implementing alternative practices, and they bear the risk if it doesn’t work. But nutrient pollution is not just an environmental problem – it’s a business one. These excess nutrients wash into the Gulf of Mexico, creating a dead zone where fish and shrimp cannot live. But less than half of the nitrogen fertilizer applied is taken up by the crops. Cost is one of the factors holding farmers back, Myers said.įarmers use fertilizer to build their soil’s fertility and help increase crop yields. Rob Myers, director of the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture, said less than half of Missouri farmers are using a regenerative method such as cover crops, no-till or integrating crops and livestock.
It’s one of several regenerative farming methods that help farmers’ fertilizer stay in fields and not run off into nearby waterways. No-till farming helps decrease erosion and runoff. Their fields are now filled with big clumps of dirt and old roots from previous harvests. But about 25 years ago they transitioned to a majority no-till operation, no longer digging up the first few inches of soil before planting. Today, the Glenns are still running their family farm in Columbia, growing corn, soybeans and hay.
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