Farming and the River

present

In the 1940s, there were more than 420,000 farms on the lands in the five states of the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Those farms supported a population of more than three million farmers and their families.

Today, we find less than 250,000 farms in the basin. Less than one million people now live and farm on the land in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

60% of the Upper Mississippi River Basin is in agriculture use. Today, this means an increase in nutrients, pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals that are toxic to fish, wildlife, and humans.

Taking a Sunday drive across the countryside today you will see larger farms, fewer farmers, increased use of pesticides and fossil fuels, less crop and livestock diversity, more farm field runoff, polluted groundwater and unhealthy streams, and less natural habitat for birds, fish, and wildlife. Farmers, once proud of their self-sufficiency, now sometimes depend on the federal government for more than half of their annual farm income. Rural communities that once thrived because local businesses provided goods and services to our farmers now have vacant main street storefronts, and some are losing populations and closing schools. The consolidation of financial resources leaves all of us more vulnerable to economic downturns. In layman terms, monopolies suck the lifeblood of the land and its people. As communities increasingly become "the place we leave every morning to go to work" we lose our connection to our neighbors and the places we live. But there is some hope.

Farmers’ profits have been and are more threatened by overproduction and high land values than by transportation costs

We are slowly seeing a diversification of agricultural production once again, including organic farms and community-supported agriculture. "R" Farms in Dow, IL and the CSA at La Vista www.lavistacsa.org are great examples . We are seeing a renewed interest in re-establishing wildlife habitat and wetlands on marginal lands. There is even a renewed interest in moving back to small towns, if only we could provide employment close to where people live. We need to support these kinds of choices and changes.

Some of the choices and changes that the River Bend community and its farmers has been progressive in, include:                             

Diversifying our farms and farm     products.                                            

Less dependence on chemicals.   

Cleaner groundwater and streams. 

More healthy habitat for birds, fish, and wildlife.

Ways in which we could improve include:            

Revitalized rural communities.         Self-sufficient farmers and profitable farms.         

Keeping our existing small farmers on the land. 

Not subsidizing the barge industry, but instead giving that money to the farmer and letter him/her make transportation choices for their goods   

Supporting federal, state, and localized programs that address soil erosion and nutrient loading reduction.