Farmers-to-Farmers Exchange between Mississippi and Iowa
The farmers from Mississippi, Iowa and other states in the Mississippi River watershed are involved in efforts of reducing the Hypoxic or Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The hypoxia problem in the Gulf is considered to be due, in part, to nutrients coming from a variety of sources. Runoff from over-fertilized agricultural land provides significant amount of nutrients to water bodies. Rainfall also can wash nutrient-rich animal waste from farms and pastures to waterways.
Both Iowa and Mississippi are considered leaders in developing and adopting technologies to help reduce nutrient runoff. The Iowa-Mississippi farmer-to-farmer exchange program was developed to build partnerships and share ideas among farmers and agricultural officials on improving water quality and thus, reducing the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. As part of this exchange program, a group of Iowa farmers and agricultural leaders visited Mississippi in May 2010. Also, a group from Mississippi visited Iowa during July 7-10, 2010.
