Ron Offutt grows more potatoes than anyone else in the
world. He grows them for the French Fry market. Press reports call him
the Sultan of Spuds and the Lord of the Fries—but his success has an
environmental price, as people in small towns near his potato farms have
learned to their dismay. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mary
Losure reports in the first of a two part series:
Tag: fertilizer
Potato Farms Create ‘Super-Sized’ Problem (Part 2)
Ron D. Offutt is the biggest potato grower in the world.
His privately owned company raises 1.8 BILLION pounds of potatoes a
year. They go to make French fries for fast food chains like McDonalds
and big potato processors like J.R Simplot. But Offutt’s
success has a downside. Many people who live near his potato farms
worry about the pesticides sprayed on his fields…but they soon find
they’re up against a system much bigger than they are. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Mary Losure reports, in the second part of a two part
series:
Farmers Slow to Adopt Buffer Strips
The government launched an effort to help prevent water pollution from
agricultural runoff in 1997. The secretary of agriculture says buffer
strips could help eliminate serious water pollution from farms. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… despite the
government’s offer of payments for converting farmland to greenways
along streams… farmers have been slow to embrace the effort:
Turkey Power
Manure management is a messy business. While farmers usually spread
manure as fertilizer, some are struggling to find enough land and can be
left with the costly expense of disposal. Now turkey farmers in central
Minnesota want to build the country’s first manure fueled power plant.
They say the plant will be a financial boost to farmers and help ease
the public’s concern over odor and pollution. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Kathryn Herzog reports:
Soil Testing Strips Aid Gardeners
Chemical test strips are often used for pregnancy and drug tests. Now the same principle’s being used by gardeners to improve soil and plant quality. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Naylor reports:
Incinerating Chicken Waste Provides Energy
Chickens raised on U.S. poultry farms produce nearly twentymillion-tons of manure every year. That waste is difficult to disposeof and can pollute water supplies. Now one British company thinks it’sfound a profitable way to manage that manure. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Steve Frenkel has more:
Commentary – Reducing Backyard Waste
With Spring upon us, the weather has allowed us to spend some time planting in the garden and cleaning up the yard. But did you know that yard waste accounts for about fifteen percent of total household trash? Great Lakes Radio Consortium Commentator Bob Lilienfeld tells us how to reduce organic waste coming from our lawns: