January 24, 2001

The American Farm Bureau Federation supports a task force recommendation that voluntary, incentive-based approaches be used to improve water quality protection in agriculture, such as in dealing with hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. "The use of regulatory mechanisms would impose excessive cost burdens on producers," said AFBF President Bob Stallman. "Properly funded assistance programs that work with farmers to retain productivity while improving water quality will be more efficient and effective."

Farm Bureau officials cited the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force report for recognizing "the necessity for voluntary, incentive-based approaches to improve water quality protection in agriculture." The report and action plan was released by the Environmental Protection Agency and submitted to Congress, culminating three years of work by the task force.

The report recognizes the complex nature of the issue of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, the formation of which is influenced by weather, river flow and nutrient load. The report says programs and efforts to address water quality at the local level will contribute to overall river improvement, according to AFBF.

"We concur with the report urging further study and analysis of the issue of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico," Stallman said. "The recommendations need more scrutiny and verification before any widespread program is implemented. For example, there are preliminary indications of a high correlation between the flow of waters down the Mississippi Basin at certain times of the year and the size of the hypoxic zone. Mother Nature determines these flows in the form of rainfall and there is nothing farmers can do to control rainfall."

Farm Bureau believes that while nitrate levels in the water may be one variable that influences the size of the hypoxia zone, there are others that are just as important, perhaps even more important.

Stallman said, "We will urge Congress to allocate funds for further research and monitoring of this issue. This should include a voluntary pilot program that would encompass a significant watershed area within the Mississippi River Basin to test and verify what changes in agronomic practices would have on nitrate levels."