Toxic Terrain: How farm fertilizer is poisoning America’s future

Former New York Times reporter Keith Schneider investigates how America’s over-reliance on synthetic fertilizers is reshaping our land, water, and health.

Read the full Toxic Terrain series here

The Series at a Glance

1. Regulators battle Oregon and Washington farmers over limits to farm pollution
   In Washington’s Yakima Valley, regulators and farmers clash over how to rein in nutrient pollution from dairies and orchards fed by Cascade Mountain snowmelt.
2. Despite critics, organic farming thrives in heart of US corn country
   In northern Iowa, farms like Clear Creek Acres show that organics can succeed even in the middle of Big Corn’s territory.
3. In Amish country, an unlikely partnership with beef giant JBS roils community
   A small Ohio town struggles as global meat giant JBS moves in, raising tensions in a traditionally self-sufficient Amish community.
4. EPA battles environmentalists in court over regulation of CAFOs and water pollution
   Environmental groups challenge EPA in federal court over weak oversight of concentrated animal feeding operations.
5. Movement to limit CAFO pollution seen strengthened by Michigan court ruling
   A key state decision may shift how animal agriculture’s massive waste streams are regulated nationwide.
6. An Iowa farm county seeks answers amid cancer rates 50% higher than national average
   In Emmetsburg, Iowa, residents reckon with a cancer crisis in what was once considered clean farm country.
7. “It’s getting worse” – US failing to stem tide of harmful farm pollutants
   From the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, nitrogen runoff continues to devastate ecosystems and livelihoods.
8. New report sparks questions and controversy over possible causes for Iowa “cancer crisis”
   A new study blames alcohol, not chemicals, for Iowa’s cancer spike — fueling backlash from locals and experts alike.
9. Cancer in the corn belt sparks actions to fight farm chemical contamination
   Des Moines water officials take the fight to court to protect drinking water from fertilizer runoff.
10. “We can’t sit back” – Amid climbing cancer rates, Iowa health officials eye farm chemicals
    Iowa health leaders reluctantly confront the role of agricultural chemicals in the state’s alarming cancer statistics.

Taken together, these stories form one of the most important recent investigations into the hidden costs of America’s farm economy. Fertilizer isn’t just growing crops — it’s fueling pollution, corporate control, and an epidemic of chronic disease.