I was in the coop elevator in Nevada yesterday.  As I was waiting, there was a farmer who was whiling away the time who wanted to talk about the new cellulosic ethanol plant that will be built.  As background the elevator sits next door to the corn-ethanol plant in Nevada.  The DuPont cellulosic plant will also be built next door to the elevator.  The farmer was saying that the cellulosic plant is expected to bring in stover from a 50-mile radius of Nevada.  He was saying that without the stover on the ground, that there are only 2 options -- manure and more anhydrous.  Neither one of those sound like good options.  If you draw a 50 mile radius, that includes the watershed for the drinking water sources for Des Moines.  Apparently there has been a lot in the news in central Iowa about this cellulosic ethanol plant.  I wonder how much thought there has been about water quality changes that are expected as a result of the plant.

pam

-----Original Message-----
From: Wally Taylor <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, Aug 5, 2011 9:55 am
Subject: Re: Water quality--nitrates

And probably many people who would like to get into or remain in farming who are being forced off the land because they cannot compete with the big guys. There are no farmers anymore, only producers.

Wally Taylor

PS--Regarding the objection that 1940s-era farming was much more labor-intensive than today, and therefore not a realistic option anymore, consider that we have a serious labor surplus now, with unemployment probably understated at the official figure of 9.1 percent.




-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas Mathews <[log in to unmask]>
To: IOWA-TOPICS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Fri, Aug 5, 2011 6:50 am
Subject: Water quality--nitrates

Here's a central-Iowa water quality question for everyone:
 
If, in the watersheds that Des Moines gets its drinking water from--which are mainly the Raccoon River, but also, at certain times, the Des Moines River--we went back to farming methods that were in use prior to about 1940, which means no applications of anhydrous ammonia, would the Des Moines Waterworks need to continue using the major nitrate removal plant which they built a few years ago, in order to make our water safe to drink? (I remember reading that our nitrate removal facility is the largest of its kind in the world.)
 
Thanks for any comments on this!
 
Tom
Des Moines
 
PS--Regarding the objection that 1940s-era farming was much more labor-intensive than today, and therefore not a realistic option anymore, consider that we have a serious labor surplus now, with unemployment probably understated at the official figure of 9.1 percent.
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