: News
MD Farmers Take Steps to Reduce Runoff
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayakaya
Cover crops such as wheat can soak up extra fertilizer before it runs off into waterways and into the Chesapeake Bay.
By Sabri Ben-Achour
Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley says farmers in his state are taking steps to reduce runoff from their fields.
Almost 1700 farmers in Maryland are going to plant a half million acres of Cover Crops this fall.
Cover crops in this case are things such as rye, barley, or wheat.
They're planted after a farmer's regular crops are done, and they act like a sponge to soak up extra fertilizer not used by those crops.
Without them, nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous can leak from the soil into the waterways and then the Chesapeake Bay, where they cause algae blooms and low dissolved oxygen like the ones that caused 30 odd fish kills last year.
Maryland's Department of Agriculture is going to try out a remote-sensing program to figure out how efficient the cover crops are at absorbing nutrient.
NPR
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Women And Children Caught In Middle Of Potato War
The National Potato Council wants potatoes to be allowed in a supplemental food program for low-income women and children at nutritional risk. But advocates for the program say the industry just wants to circumvent the scientific process that sets policy on nutrition.NPR
Women And Children Caught In Middle Of Potato War
The National Potato Council wants potatoes to be allowed in a supplemental food program for low-income women and children at nutritional risk. But advocates for the program say the industry just wants to circumvent the scientific process that sets policy on nutrition.NPR
FBI Director Says Agency Is Using Drones Over The U.S.
Robert Mueller told the Senate the FBI used drones rarely and for surveillance proposes. The DEA and the ATF had both revealed they possessed drones.Leave a Comment
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