Troubled Waters

I've been at the annual Master Naturalist Convention this weekend.  Those naturalists sure know how to have a good time; such a great group of people.  Our keynote speakers were Barb Coffin (producer of the controversial movie) and Dan Engstrom (director of the St. Croix Watershed Research Station.  The film, Troubled Waters, talks about the future of the Mississippi River, the dead zone created in the gulf of Mexico, how the sediment load is filling in Lake Pepin, how drain tiles on farmland have changed the hydrology of our state, nitrate loads leaching into our aquifers from row crop farming, and sustainable farming.  The situation looks alarming.  According to our two speakers, the culprit is the farm bill that rewards farmers for high production of corn and soybeans.  If the farm bill was rewritten to reward other things, the plight of the Mississippi could change for the better rather quickly.  The movie was thought provoking and the discussion after the movie was even more thought provoking.