The Dead Zone - a New Concern for Corn Growers
Greg Roth
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences
Penn State
January 1998
You may not have heard about the Dead Zone- or think it sounds like a horror movie title- but it may have serious implications for many U.S. corn producers in the future. The Dead Zone is a 6800 square mile area (slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey) in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana and Texas that has appeared during the past four years. Oxygen levels in the water in this area become so depleted that fish and shellfish in area either move out or die. The zone has reduced fish and shrimp catches in the region and is causing hardships among the those involved in fishing industry in Louisiana. Scientists are not completely sure what causes the dead zone but many feel that fertilizers, manure and sewage from the Mississippi River has caused an overfertilization of this area of the Gulf which in turn causes a bloom of algae during the heat of the summer. When the algae die and decay, oxygen levels in the water are reduced to the point that fish and shrimp can't survive.
While the dead zone has appeared in the Gulf for some time, it doubled in size after the 1993 floods and has reappeared each summer since. Last August, the Clinton administration launched an 18 month investigation into the problem to try to determine causes and possible solutions to the problem.
The seriousness of the dead zone problem has spawned heated debate between fishermen and midwest corn growers. The fishermen feel the problem is caused by farm chemicals and nitrogen fertilizers and farm groups want more evidence and fear over regulation. The American Farm Bureau and NCGA have both been actively monitoring the issue.
Several articles in the press have drawn parallels between the Dead Zone problem and the Chesapeake Bay issue that we have experienced here in the northeast. It may be that programs similar to those used in the Chesapeake watershed will be instituted in the Mississippi basin. This problem will be more difficult to manage than the Chesapeake- since the Mississippi watershed includes 31 states, most with an intensive agricultural base. You can expect we will hear more on this issue in the future.