Many anxious American farmers are delaying purchases and investment while hoping for a truce in a U.S.-China trade war that has left their crops at a competitive disadvantage overseas.
Minnesota farmers rely heavily on nitrogen fertilizer to grow the crops that help make agriculture a $75 billion industry. But the state has struggled to find the right balance between food and fuel production and clean water. The state held the first in a series of hearings about new regulations on fertilizer use Monday.
A new round of tariffs began Friday. The cost of the levies is likely to ripple through the complex global supply chains that make up much of the trade between the U.S. and China.
Residents are concerned about manure leaking into groundwater, which people rely on for their drinking water. Several of those opposed to the farm have private wells, some of which already have high nitrate levels from farm runoff.
About 200 people were sickened in the E. coli outbreak and five people died. The outbreak, which started in the spring, is now over, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The scarcity of rural vets, who are the first line of defense against diseases that can spread from animals to humans, means sick and infected animals could increasingly go untested.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is being met with protests by farmers and ethanol producers concerned that he is undermining the industry with his strong support of oil and gas.
Some of the oldest farmland in America is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. But as sea levels rise, saltwater is killing crops and threatening a way of life.
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