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Why is Illinois still struggling to reduce nutrient runoff from farms?

We’ve known about this problem for years. Why is Illinois still struggling to reduce nutrient runoff from farms?

The answer is complicated. Many people think that nutrient losses from farm fields are simply a matter of excessive fertilizer application and that farmers just need to use less. In one of our tile-drainage studies, we used only 75% of the full nitrogen fertilizer rate on corn. This reduced grain yield by 10% but had little effect on tile nitrate losses over the course of the study. | READ MORE