Inside the Massive Effort to Rid Lake Decatur of Farm Runoff
Surrounded by some of the world’s richest soil and home to two major grain processing plants, Decatur has long been a hub for agribusiness in the United States.
These agricultural-based industries have largely been a positive in Decatur’s story, bringing jobs and money back to the “Soybean Capital of the World” while exporting food products found in grocery stores all around the world.
Yet economic benefits and a sense of identity are not the only things these industries produce.
One major trade-off comes in the form of excess nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, that runoff from fertilizers used on local farm fields and from discharges from wastewater treatment plants and factories.
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These agricultural-based industries have largely been a positive in Decatur’s story, bringing jobs and money back to the “Soybean Capital of the World” while exporting food products found in grocery stores all around the world.
Yet economic benefits and a sense of identity are not the only things these industries produce.
One major trade-off comes in the form of excess nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, that runoff from fertilizers used on local farm fields and from discharges from wastewater treatment plants and factories.
Click Here to read more.