Keith Schneider @modeshift Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

@VChoudhary_007

@Kubota_Spears

@GPDNews

@HavenH35248

@doremee1234

@bokeplokalmalam

@TacosY3s

@Lorenalien_

@TrackerPros

@TMR27_inazuma

@tomasoliveiira

@explora_cl

@thecheat

@ToniCollard

@SU_JKindervater

@NatShupe

@dslfnny_

@tysondavis2026

@eicvsfascism

@TeflonHoot

@Idleogist

@judychan45

@eros_ads

@BrixhamChamber

@AstonPawn

@Dust_ney

@melanie_matheu

@mersnciftucrtli

@a_abou173rashid

@incognitoakhi

@ILVR_3DS

@freykarl66

@bokeplokalmalam

@ReseauCom_Lim

@stwmaniax

@ChienThang1sao

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 years

Just finished working with team to fact check Seth Abramson's "Proof of Collusion" for Simon and Schuster. Powerful and convincing. Look for it starting on Nov. 13. Definitely worth the read.

24

216

1K

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

5 months

The worst polluter in US history isn’t coal or hard rock mining. Not refining or chemical manufacturing. Not wastewater treatment plants. Not urban sprawl. It’s agriculture. An environmental law, Clean Water Act, immunized farming from oversight.

'It’s getting worse' – U.S. failing to stem tide of harmful farm pollutants • Iowa Capital Dispatch

A grand government plan to address the problem has cost taxpayers billions of dollars with minimal results so far.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

80

262

468

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Farming causes colossal water pollution in Corn Belt. Over half of Iowa rivers/ streams tested, and 63% of lakes and reservoirs are too polluted for drinking, recreation, fishing. E. coli from animal waste is everywhere.

54

263

426

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

No end to MAGA deceit. Iowa lawmakers attacked Chris Jones, a prominent U of Iowa water researcher. They silenced his university blog, defunded his nutrient monitoring network. Rare public display of political intimidation to protect water polluters.

In Iowa, a tale of politics, power, and contaminated water

By Keith Schneider IOWA CITY, IOWA – Here in the heart of US farm country, the wretched quality of Iowa waterways is a well-known lament. Farm fields laden with synthetic fertilizers and manure...

www.thenewlede.org

14

215

369

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Most polluted water in U.S. Excess cancers and rising. What are Iowa lawmakers thinking? They're thinking protect Big Ag from responsibly managing its gargantuan wastes. They want to halt monitoring ground/surface water for farm nutrient contamination.

Proposed bill would strip Iowa watershed management authorities of water quality efforts

State ag officials, Iowa DNR propose revisions to Iowa Code, emphasizing soil health

www.thegazette.com

28

214

356

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Sickening people. Killing fish. The consequence of Iowa’s capitulation to Big Ag nutrient spreading and storage practices. And near complete disregard for public oversight.

Fertilizer killed more than 750,000 fish in Nishnabotna • Iowa Capital Dispatch

The spill the month at a farmers' cooperative in Red Oak resulted in the largest fish kill in a decade in Iowa.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

16

192

325

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Rep. Austin Baeth, first term Democrat, and a physician, is taking the lead in addressing what he calls “Iowa’s cancer crisis.”. Of 15 states with highest cancer incidence, 5 are Corn Belt states. Iowa is #2 . State’s elevated nitrate and farm chemical contamination are suspects.

State Rep. Austin Baeth

@AustinBaeth

8 months

Why does Iowa have the 2nd highest cancer rate in the nation? Here’s what we know and don’t know:

19

72

218

14

160

323

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

11 months

Under $3.00 a gallon for regular here in Iowa. Blame Biden.

23

62

296

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Faced with a startlingly high cancer rate in Iowa, public health leaders are taking the politically precarious step of acknowledging that preventing disease necessitates cutting exposure to potentially cancer-causing chemicals used in agriculture.

"We can't sit back" - Amid climbing cancer rates, Iowa health officials eye farm chemicals

Faced with a startlingly high cancer rate in the key US farm state of Iowa, public health leaders are taking the politically precarious step of acknowledging that preventing disease necessitates...

www.thenewlede.org

15

136

299

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Science is drawing closer to confirming that exposure to even trace levels of nitrates in drinking water are a serious risk to health. Nitrates from toxic farm nutrients contaminate drinking water across the Corn Belt. My latest Toxic Terrain report:

Could farm fertilizers be driving Corn Belt cancers?

By Keith Schneider BERNE, Minn. – It was a hot afternoon in mid-July and 60-year-old Brian Bennerotte was making a pilgrimage of sorts, navigating a shotgun-straight, gravel road south of Minneapolis...

www.thenewlede.org

13

124

297

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Along a farm road in Minnesota residents came down with cancers — breast, blood, colon, lymphoma — specifically associated in medical studies in the US and overseas with exposure to nitrates in drinking water. Groundwater had high nitrate levels.

In Minnesota, families blame farm nutrient contamination for heavy cancer toll - Investigate Midwest

"Every family along here was affected. Every one."

investigatemidwest.org

2

177

295

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

About Iowa cancer. This in The Gazette: “Another state ranking has gotten more attention in recent years: Iowa has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers in the nation and the second-highest cancer rate overall.”

18

185

288

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

National scandal of farm nutrient contamination is getting attention. This from The Guardian. “Agriculture pollution is a problem across the US midwest. In Wisconsin, 80,000 wells contain unsafe levels of nitrate. In Iowa, more than 6,000 wells.”

‘Sad and debilitating’: rural midwesterners contend with well water tainted by livestock waste

Nitrate-fouled water from concentrated animal feed operations causes a host of medical problems for nearby residents

www.theguardian.com

19

162

264

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Another big fertilizer accident and massive fish kill. This one in Illinois. Agriculture is worst polluter in US history. These huge nitrogen gushers are disgusting and dangerous.

robert

@rfhirschfeld

6 months

“They were belly up. All dead. Every fish was dead. All of the woodland creatures here drink out of that creek. We have deer, raccoons, possums, skunks, you name it, they’re out here. They all drink from that creek. So that was my concern.”

2

29

48

15

170

259

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Corn Belt states pollute the Mississippi with billions of pounds of commercial fertilizer and manure running of crop land. It’s getting worse everywhere. Here is story in Illinois.

Illinois farmers struggle to balance livelihoods with reducing agricultural runoff, a major...

Lance Nacio’s family has made its living fishing along the coast of Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish for three generations. He’s continuing the family business, but it’s becomi…

www.chicagotribune.com

5

149

253

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Page 1 Des Moines Register today. The scandal of Corn Belt’s colossal tide of toxic farm nutrient pollution, and consequences for health, is getting prime time coverage. An important story. Solutions are available. Farm policy for managing fertilizer/manure needs abrupt change.

John Norwood

@NorwoodJohn

6 months

Cancer in Iowa. No. 2 in USA 🇺🇸. Let’s take a scientific approach to study causation. Agricultural sprays and water pollutants likely a cause of some of our cancers. Let’s figure out which practices and policies need to change like spray drift and drinking water standards by

3

46

93

10

121

259

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

This is the story across ag-polluted Corn Belt states - $billions spent on voluntary “conservation” measures that don’t work. Waste taxpayer dollars. Produce more polluted waters. It’s a national scandal. It’s an American disgrace.

Nitrate contamination of Minnesota waters shows little sign of going away, despite years of effort

Farm pollution persists despite hundreds of millions spent to clean it up.

www2.startribune.com

11

144

255

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Iowa conversations about poor water quality/ high cancer rates are building support for enforcing current environmental laws. “The energy is there. “It’s kind of an electricity you can feel. People suddenly find that there’s a community, a new community.”

We must advocate and litigate our rights to a healthy environment • Iowa Capital Dispatch

Iowans are forming a new nonprofit that aims to advocate and litigate for protection of Iowa’s natural resources.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

13

122

252

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Farm-related nutrient pollution is a national scandal. A minority of Americans is grossly fouling waters used by tens of millions. Crop farmers, and livestock/poultry producers have virtually unlimited permission to pollute.

Reporting project examines the scandal of US farm pollution

By Keith Schneider There’s no way to describe farm-related nutrient pollution other than what it is – a national scandal. A tiny minority of Americans, half of one percent, is grossly fouling the...

www.thenewlede.org

11

130

245

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Iowa cancer incidence is serious. State action needs to be just as serious. One primary cause is farm nutrient contamination. Cancer is rampant in the state.

State Rep. Austin Baeth

@AustinBaeth

9 months

Iowa's cancer rate is 2nd highest in the nation. Inexplicably. We need to invest in epidemiologic research to find out way, and we can do a lot more to mitigate known causes of cancer. If you're an Iowan, tell your legislators it's time to act.

30

83

258

8

138

238

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Iowa's worst-in-nation water quality will get worse? Iowa Senate's proposed budget calls for eliminating funding for the state's 66 river/stream nitrate and phosphorus pollution sensors. Same MAGA lawmakers who killed Chris Jones' blog at U. of Iowa are behind the absurdity.

7

141

229

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Binge drinking causes Iowa’s high cancer incidence? Sure. But consider that Iowa farmers apply 50 million tons of manure and 11 billion pounds of commercial fertilizer annually now. The commercial nutrient use is 10 percent higher than the 10-year average.

19

120

221

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Iowa’s rising cancer incidence sourced to binge drinking by state Cancer Registry. For real? State waters contaminated by farm nutrients/pesticides. Cancer rise coincides with transformation of Iowa agriculture from smaller family farms to mammoth polluting industrial operations.

13

73

220

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Big Ag, led by the Farm Bureau, has made it possible for farms to avoid responsibility and accountability for its massive and toxic waste stream. Congress and state legislatures cower in abject fear. Here’s my report from North Dakota:

“What We’re Up Against” – North Dakota Towns Fight Farm Bureau to Keep Water Clean

Tiny Pelican Township gets dragged into national campaign to upend local zoning rules.

www.circleofblue.org

9

130

217

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Public concern about cancer and nitrates is rising in Iowa. As it should. State officials and agriculture utterly abandoned accountability for mammoth tide of toxic wastes pouring off crop land. A state and national scandal.

Ryan Melton

@melton4iowa

8 months

Every week on the campaign trail, Iowa’s cancer and water quality crises are of top concern for voters.

13

59

199

6

81

212

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

There’s no way to describe farm-related nutrient pollution other than what it is – a national scandal. A tiny minority, half of one percent, is grossly fouling the waters for tens of millions of others. 1 of 2

Reporting project examines the scandal of US farm pollution

By Keith Schneider There’s no way to describe farm-related nutrient pollution other than what it is – a national scandal. A tiny minority of Americans, half of one percent, is grossly fouling the...

www.thenewlede.org

13

97

197

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Iowa’s MAGA leaders are displaying their characteristic menace to residents in all the worst ways. Now they’re helping pesticide producers avoid responsibility for getting people sick. Just like they’re evading accountability for state’s rising cancer incidence.

Iowa Senate Democrats

@SenateMajority

6 months

The Iowa Senate Republicans had another opportunity to help Iowans suffering from cancer, and they once again decided against giving Iowans fighting cancer a better deal.

3

156

165

6

159

202

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

The Iowa DNR has basically abandoned its responsibility to regulate air emissions and water discharges from agriculture. There’s a reason that fertilizer and manure have produced nation’s worst surface and groundwater contamination in Iowa.

Only In Iowa; Barrels of Waste Buried On Farm Go Untested | ModeShift

The Iowa Capitol Dispatch, one of the fine non-profit online news organizations at the center of the country, posted an article last week by Jared Strong that caught my attention. Following more than...

modeshift.org

7

96

190

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Iowa MAGA gone off the rails in state with worst water quality in US and second highest cancer incidence. They’re opening ever wider the hole in the state’s disregard for its people and water. CAFOS will spread more manure more places more often - unrestricted.

Iowa Capital Dispatch

@IowaCapDispatch

7 months

Legislation that was advanced Monday by an Iowa Senate subcommittee would allow livestock feedlots to spread manure in fields without the approval of state regulators in certain situations, @jstrong712 reports. via @IowaCapDispatch

22

34

38

14

92

194

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Minn. Gov. Tim Walz proposes $13 million to protect homeowners from toxic nitrates in their wells in SE region of state. Toxic farm pollution a major issue in Minn., where groundwater is among the most contaminated in the country.

High nitrate levels in southeastern Minnesota prompt aid plan at state Capitol

Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers are discussing ways to address water with elevated levels of nitrate in southeastern Minnesota. The attention comes following the EPA’s formal request that state...

www.mprnews.org

19

99

194

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Cancer-related diseases and deaths are climbing as contamination from agricultural chemicals and manure increase in Corn Belt. Now lawmakers and health officials in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska are pursuing new strategies to reduce risks to human health.

Cancer in the corn belt sparks actions to fight farm chemical contamination

By Keith Schneider When directors of the public water utility in Des Moines, Iowa, went to court in 2015 to try to stop toxic farm nutrients from contaminating the city’s drinking water, they knew...

www.thenewlede.org

9

109

180

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Big Ag rules Iowa. Be alarmed. Bill under consideration for a second time this year would immunize pesticide manufacturers from liability for injuries their products may cause. MAGA sponsor says bill would “keep food supply abundant, safe and efficient.”

Bill proposing legal immunity for pesticide manufacturers advances • Iowa Capital Dispatch

The bill is backed by Bayer, the manufacturer of the herbicide RoundUp, that has recently faced litigation over the product's link to cancer.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

13

128

181

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Farm nitrates contaminate drinking water across Corn Belt. USGS reports 22% of rural wells exceed 10 ppm safety limit. Minn.- elevated levels in 80 public water systems. Iowa -55,000 wells contaminated. Wisc. - 10% of wells exceed 10 ppm.

Could farm fertilizers be driving Corn Belt cancers?

By Keith Schneider BERNE, Minn. – It was a hot afternoon in mid-July and 60-year-old Brian Bennerotte was making a pilgrimage of sorts, navigating a shotgun-straight, gravel road south of Minneapolis...

www.thenewlede.org

11

119

180

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Iowa’s worst in the nation water won’t improve. State lawmakers approve budget bill to divert funding for water quality measurement program at University of Iowa. Comes as MAGA lawmakers just forced university to close down blog of Chris Jones, state’s top water quality writer.

7

92

175

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

The fourth in a strong series on cancer in Iowa. Nice work Erin Jordan and Brittney Miller. The state’s fast rising cancer incidence is prompting persistent media attention - essential for activating civic responses. Otherwise Big Ag will impede solutions.

5

113

174

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Cancer Registry finding that binge drinking causes Iowa’s high cancer incidence sparks doubts from researchers. “Is alcohol responsible for the increase in cancer incidence here since 2014? I personally doubt that,” said James Merchant, former dean, U. Iowa Col. of Pub. Health. 1

15

40

167

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

5 months

Emmetsburg and Palo Alto County, Iowa have been radically transformed into a place where residents worry that the farms that have sustained their livelihoods are also the source of the health problems that have plagued so many families. New Toxic Terrain

An Iowa farm county seeks answers amid cancer rates 50% higher than national average

By Keith Schneider EMMETSBURG, IOWA –Raised in rural Iowa, 71-year-old Maureen Reeves Horsley once considered her tiny hometown in the northwest part of the state to be a blessed space. She recalls a...

www.thenewlede.org

11

102

176

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Iowa Capital Dispatch on cancer incidence. “What needs to be looked at are things that are carcinogens that have increased beginning about 1990, said James Merchant, former dean of the University of Iowa College of Public Health.

New report sparks questions and controversy over possible causes for Iowa 'cancer crisis' • Iowa...

A recent report linking Iowa's high cancer rate to alcohol consumption has raised questions from health and environment researchers.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

5

98

163

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

There’s reluctance to pinpoint agriculture for Iowa’s rising cancer rate, reports Erin Jordan. But a growing body of evidence linking agricultural chemical exposure to cancer has caused researchers, doctors, survivors to push for action to protect Iowans.

23

90

164

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Could this be real cause of Iowa’s high cancer incidence? Specialized corn and soybean operations now span thousands of acres, supply billions of gallons of fuel for vehicles, and feed an indoor livestock and poultry sector that raises twice as many animals as it did in 1992.

12

57

162

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Taxpayer-funded, public universities help drive the overuse of fertilizer that pollutes water. The role they play is buried deep in agriculture policy and contemporary practice and plays out in the form of “formal fertilizer recommendations”.

Advising farmers on fertilizer, universities add to water pollution woes

By Keith Schneider WINONA, Minn. – Corn drapes every curve and rise here in Winona County, Minnesota – seemingly endless fields of grain that contribute to the food, fuel and finances of a robust US...

www.thenewlede.org

7

92

161

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Corn Belt environmental degradation and social decline caused by farm nutrient water pollution. This from Missouri. The utter irresponsibility of state and federal lawmakers — both parties mind you - to regulate agriculture waste streams is wrecking life at country’s middle.

Ice Cube Press, LLC

@icecubepress

9 months

Rural decline Damaged water CAFOs … sadly they DO go together @piper4missouri @RiverRaccoon @_dpdoughty I’ll try and post an online link but this ran in the @gazettedotcom Thanks @tdorman

6

45

89

5

85

158

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Iowa media drills down into the MAGA legislative lunacy to keep allowing agriculture to pollute at will. Worst in nation, one of worst in world water contamination pursued with amazing allegiance by MAGA lawmakers. A story of 21st century environmental idiocy.

Todd Dorman

@tdorman

7 months

Agriculture gets protection, loopholes and no regulations whatsoever to stem the tide of pollution running off cropland. Our waters and Iowans who want to enjoy them get the shaft. We’d be better off if this Legislature did nothing on water quality.

5

32

106

9

64

149

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

11 months

More strong reporting on the national scandal of toxic farm nutrient pollution in the Corn Belt. This from Iowa and its mammoth hog industry.

How one company and way too many pigs destroyed America’s heartland

The company, Iowa’s largest hog producer, courted power filled American heartland with a sea of CAFOs.

www.vox.com

9

66

147

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Iowa is where science and truth go to die. First, 2 MAGA maniac state senators push water quality researcher Chris Jones out at U. of Iowa in May. Then, MAGA idiot intimidates chief KCCI meteorologist Chris Gloninger out of his job this month.

Meteorologist Who Was Threatened Over Climate Coverage to Leave Job (Published 2023)

Chris Gloninger said his new job as a scientist at a research company would still allow him to make a difference on a subject he is passionate about.

www.nytimes.com

7

63

141

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Jared Strong reports on coming nitrate deluge in Iowa. A mess in the making. Nitrates amass in fields after longest drought in 70 years. Stage is set for massive stream pollution. Fertilizer not absorbed by crops flushed by rain into state waters.

Iowa primed for potentially ‘epic’ increase in stream pollution • Iowa Capital Dispatch

A buildup of nitrate in farm fields from Iowa’s longest-running drought in 70 years could lead to a massive uptick in stream pollution.

iowacapitaldispatch.com

10

136

201

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

11 months

Iowa researchers and a state Rep. investigate ties between cancer and exposure to farm-related toxic nitrate pollution. Same in Nebraska. Now EPA is directing Minnesota to control “imminent endangerment” of farm pollution in water. Bit by bit progress.

US regulators order Minnesota to clean up nitrate contaminated water

By Keith Schneider In recognition of pervasive farm-related water contamination, federal regulators have ordered three Minnesota state agencies to address “imminent and substantial endangerment to...

www.thenewlede.org

4

58

140

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Iowa’s waters are ruined by gross mismanagement of manure and fertilizer. Toxic nutrients are killing fish and, maybe, people. State residents must not recognize the peril because citizen response is so Iowa polite.

David Cwiertny

@dcwiertny

6 months

“There was never a valve installed, and nothing was stopping it from flowing out…It just flowed right to that stream.” - Well why the f*** not? I mean, come one. Valves aren’t expensive or hard to install. Why do just we allow this to happen?

20

95

204

4

87

138

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Cancer is everywhere in Iowa. Among the 25 U.S. counties with the highest cancer incidence, Iowa’s Palo Alto County ranks 2nd; 21,000 Iowans develop cancer in Iowa annually, twice as many as in 1973. Yet Iowa’s population is only 11% larger than then.

As some researchers point to alcohol for Iowa's cancer rise, others suspect agriculture

A research report blaming alcohol for Iowa's soaring cancer rate draws pushback from those who suspect agricultural chemicals, waste are prime cause

www.desmoinesregister.com

6

91

133

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Linking alcohol to rising cancer rates in Iowa seems questionable. Iowa’s per capita consumption of alcohol ranks 24th in the nation, according to Statista, a data research service. Drinking habits in Iowa do not appear to have changed dramatically in the last few decades. 1 of 2

19

22

131

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

There’s no way to describe farm-related nutrient pollution other than what it is – a national scandal. A tiny minority of Americans, half of one percent, is grossly fouling the waters for tens of millions of others. The New Lede’s Toxic Terrain project.

Reporting project examines the scandal of US farm pollution

By Keith Schneider There’s no way to describe farm-related nutrient pollution other than what it is – a national scandal. A tiny minority of Americans, half of one percent, is grossly fouling the...

www.thenewlede.org

5

81

135

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

With Chris Jones, author of Swine Republic, and Steve Semken, founder of Ice Cube Press, in Iowa City event on scandal of farm nutrient contamination. These guys are public interest warriors on most important water pollution mess in America.

10

25

132

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Commercial nitrogen fertilizer and nitrogen-rich manure are leading sources of nitrate contamination that is increasing in Corn Belt. As much as 70% of the nitrogen applied to farmland leaks off fields and drains as toxic nitrates into waters.

Keith SchneiderCircle of Blue’s senior editor and chief correspondent based in Traverse City, Michigan. He has reported on the contest for energy, food, and water in the era of climate change from...

www.circleofblue.org

8

78

127

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Essentially, U.S. agriculture is a rogue industrial enterprise financed with hundreds of billions of public dollars and operating without constraint within the laws it contorted for its own benefit. Talk about a system that is rigged. 1 of 2

3

38

129

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

One more mammoth fraud of Sec. Vilsack and Big Ag co-conspirators on the people. Those big, expensive, water-polluting manure biodigesters said to reduce methane emissions? They release more methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. A lot more.

New Analysis Identifies Significant Methane Releases at California Mega-Dairies

Dairies part of one of California’s Oldest Climate Programs, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard

www.foodandwaterwatch.org

4

71

128

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

5 months

Programs to stem farm nutrient contamination cost $billions with minimal results. Reasons are multi-fold - industry opposition to regulations; farm practices that add to the pollution. It’s facet of national scandal of America’s most polluting industry.

"It's getting worse" - US failing to stem tide of harmful farm pollutants

By Keith Schneider VENICE, LA. Kindra Arnesen is a 46-year-old commercial fishing boat operator who has spent most of her life among the pelicans and bayous of southern Louisiana, near the juncture...

www.thenewlede.org

6

71

126

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Had they been held accountable for their wastes farms would have operated at a smaller scale to bring environmental costs into line with revenue. In a new book, “Barons – Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry”, Austin Frerick unveils another primary scandal.

4

40

123

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

A monumental new tide of nutrients has been spread on Corn Belt farmland. Most drains into surface and groundwater. The amount of nitrogen applied to corn has increased 120 million pounds annually since 2000, according to the USDA. 1

3

63

122

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Civil Eats reports on Chris Jones and the Bloody Run scandal in Iowa. More news desks are following our Toxic Terrain reports. So gratifying to see the national scandal of farm pollution revealed. Thank you Civil Eats.

The Iowa Trout Stream at the Center of a Feedlot Fight

Environmental groups and residents argue that the Supreme Beef CAFO has a faulty manure disposal plan that threatens Bloody Run Creek, a spring-fed trout stream. They also allege a brazen abuse of...

civileats.com

2

56

121

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

In Roundup trial U.S. Judge Vince Chhabria said, “Monsanto does not particularly care whether its product is in fact giving people cancer, undermining anyone who raises legitimate concern." #CivilEats weighs in.

Inside Bayer’s State-by-State Efforts to Stop Pesticide Lawsuits

As the agrichemical giant lays groundwork to fend off Roundup litigation, its use of a playbook for building influence in farm state legislatures has the potential to benefit pesticide companies...

civileats.com

1

87

119

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

No surprise about nitrate contamination in water. It’s getting worse in Corn Belt states, according to new national EPA assessment of rivers and streams. This in the face of $billions spent on voluntary ‘conservation’ measures that don’t work. See data:

3

63

116

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

5 months

Best management practices aren’t working to stem farm pollution. The US spent more than $30 billion since 1997 on efforts to clean up the Mississippi Basin, but in 2023 EPA said “Attempts to address nutrients are complex, difficult, and often costly.”

"It's getting worse" - US failing to stem tide of harmful farm pollutants

By Keith Schneider VENICE, LA. Kindra Arnesen is a 46-year-old commercial fishing boat operator who has spent most of her life among the pelicans and bayous of southern Louisiana, near the juncture...

www.thenewlede.org

6

79

118

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Digging into the data even deeper — of the counties across the country with the highest incidence of cancer, according to the CDC, Palo Alto County in Iowa has the second highest incidence, and four others in Nebraska are in the top 25.

Keith SchneiderCircle of Blue’s senior editor and chief correspondent based in Traverse City, Michigan. He has reported on the contest for energy, food, and water in the era of climate change from...

www.circleofblue.org

8

85

115

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

The climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act were celebrated as a breakthrough for national well being. Nobody wants to talk about the water quality mess the law will generate. Not environmentalists. Not major media. I did, though, in this report:

New U.S. Climate Law Will Make Water Contamination Worse

Billions in clean energy incentives rely on raw materials from polluting corn and livestock.

www.circleofblue.org

4

49

113

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Nebraska governor’s hog CAFOs are big nitrate water polluters. Nitrates from Corn Belt agriculture are responsible for a public health disaster in middle of country. Nebraska has highest rate of pediatric cancer west of Mississippi R. Iowa has 2nd highest cancer incidence in US.

Flatwater Free Press

@flatwaterfreep

1 year

New @flatwaterfreep : 16 hog farms tied to Gov. Jim Pillen’s company have tested for nitrate at levels at least 5 times above the safe drinking water limit. Experts say some of this nitrate, linked to cancer & other risks, is flowing into our groundwater.

7

95

162

2

79

110

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

5 months

In 1980 industrialization really started to take hold in American agriculture. Nitrogen discharged annually to the Mississippi River totaled 1.4 billion pounds, says E.P.A. It’s nearly three times that amount now, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Conservation Programs Cost $Tens of Billions But Farm Nutrient Pollution Gets Worse | ModeShift

VENICE, LA. — Kindra Arnesen is a 46-year-old Louisiana fishing boat operator who spent most of her life among the pelicans and bayous 20 miles upstream from where the Mississippi River ends at the...

modeshift.org

9

86

113

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Iowa Cancer Registry’s focus on alcohol, not ag chemicals comes as public interest in cancer has swelled across the Corn Belt. Legislation to invest more state funds in research that identifies environmental sources of cancer has been introduced in Iowa and Nebraska. 1 of 2

8

30

106

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Minnesotans farm pollution endangers health. Manure is a major source of nitrates in drinking water, and linked to birth defects and cancer. Dodge County's "Cancer Road" had nitrate double the safety limit in wells of families suffering from cancer.

Mess around factory farms and water quality in Minnesota is only getting worse

It’s why our lawsuit is necessary.

www.startribune.com

4

68

104

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

One source of Iowa’s soaring cancer incidence could/may/likely be the state’s colossal off-the-hook use of farm chemicals, commercial fertilizer, and manure. I’ve followed cancer in our Toxic Terrain project at The New Lede. Heading to state in April for more frontline reporting.

Beaufighter 🇺🇸 🇺🇦🌻

@Beaufighter_MkI

6 months

Just within the past month, I've learned that a third close friend in NE Iowa developed aggressive blood cancer within the last two years, and the second of the three passed away. Something is wrong.

8

19

64

0

45

103

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

This isn’t just a North Carolina tale of injustice and disruption experienced by people living close to hog CAFOs. It’s also the story of pollution, demoralization, industrial arrogance experienced by thousands in Iowa, Minn., Wisc., Missouri and Neb. A frickin’ national scandal.

Arsenio Mataka

@arseniomataka

8 months

'Smell of Money' shows perseverance amid toxic environmental racism As one resident explains about the refusal of Smithfield or the government to prevent this unfolding tragedy, “[t]hey don’t care because we’re Black. There ain’t no other way to put it.”

2

13

21

4

53

104

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Janice Weiner sees trouble in Iowa’s rising cancer rate. It’s a public health emergency in Iowa and other Corn Belt states. Lawmakers in Minnesota also are responding. Nebraska medical leaders also. Nitrate contamination, a suspected cause, is rising across the country’s center.

Janice Weiner

@janice4iowa

8 months

It is past time to combat Iowa’s high ( #2 in the nation) and rising cancer rates. My bill, SF2250, would tap into Iowa expertise to do that.

29

52

237

2

48

101

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

More evidence of agriculture’s expensive neglect of its massive toxic waste stream. The Gazette in Iowa reports on state nutrient reduction program, over a decade old, has accomplished nearly nothing in goal to cut water contamination from farm nutrients.

Have 10 years of efforts made a difference in Iowa’s water quality?

The Gazette dove into ISU data to investigate how to-date conservation practices and facility upgrades have impacted Iowa’s nitrogen and phosphorous pollution

www.thegazette.com

2

54

101

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Iowa’s animal agriculture sector driving legislature to make insane proposals, like alleviating CAFOs from any and all of the weak oversight that exists. Result: mammoth production and pollution from manure. 1 of 3

4

48

97

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

10 months

New source of lithium with potentially less damage than mining. Sammy Roth reports on findings from California's Salton Sea. Berkeley National Laboratory researchers estimate there's enough to power hundreds of millions of EV batteries. Nice work Sammy.

The Salton Sea has even more lithium than previously thought, new report finds

But we shouldn't count on the desert lake to solve all our climate and clean energy problems.

www.latimes.com

2

33

98

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Larry Lake was a revered teacher and football coach at North Scott High School in Eldridge, Iowa. One of his 9 daughters is flip-flop Arizona MAGA menace Kari, a 1987 grad. She reflects the sharp turn to right wing idiocracy in Iowa and in Arizona. What’s in Iowa’s toxic water?

32

30

97

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Lawmakers and public health specialists in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota are responding to cancer, other health effects from exposure to farm nutrient and chemical pollution. Various bills proposed. Various research under way. Am preparing first 2024 report for Toxic Terrain project.

3

39

93

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

When do Iowa citizen’s take care of this scandal?

David Thoreson

@bluewaternews

6 months

#Iowa is at a tipping point. More than half of the state’s waters are horribly polluted and the leadership will not invest a dime in maintaining the wonderful jewels that are the state parks.

7

72

164

7

37

90

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

10 months

Only in Iowa do buried barrels of chemical waste found on a farm go unsampled. For real? Allegiance to big farm operations is paramount in America’s corn, hog, and cattle state.

Only In Iowa; Barrels of Waste Buried On Farm Go Untested | ModeShift

The Iowa Capitol Dispatch, one of the fine non-profit online news organizations at the center of the country, posted an article last week by Jared Strong that caught my attention. Following more than...

modeshift.org

5

45

91

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

10 months

Iowa has a double water supply and water pollution emergency. A deep drought and nation’s worst water. Industrial agriculture is more fragile than ever before.

Ryan Melton

@melton4iowa

10 months

Parts of Iowa drier than the Dust Bowl; state preps for water shortages: With Iowa’s water quality AND availability problems, carbon capture pipelines and their massive water use requirements are bad for Iowa.

8

47

122

1

43

88

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Hogs are spreading out of Iowa into Wisconsin and Dakotas. One big reason. Industry can’t control PERS, a swine pandemic disease wrecking hog confinement operations. Industry looking for disease-free regions. Working on next article in Toxic Terrain project.

Jonesingforthetruth

@RiverRaccoon

1 year

Bruce Rastetter owns 700,000 hogs in Iowa, in case you're looking for more reasons why our state government tolerates polluted lakes, streams, and aquifers.

11

88

234

5

39

85

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Installing a bioreactor to limit nitrate pollution in Indian Creek in Iowa. Problem is, due to political corruption and scientific suppression, Iowa’s MAGA Legislature is dismantling the state water quality monitoring network that lets people know whether such installations work.

3

42

85

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Starting in 2012, 5 of 8 states where cancer incidence was increasing were in Corn Belt - Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Just 3 others experienced same upward trend. Ark., La., W. Va. But overall incidence in US was dropping.

Keith SchneiderCircle of Blue’s senior editor and chief correspondent based in Traverse City, Michigan. He has reported on the contest for energy, food, and water in the era of climate change from...

www.circleofblue.org

0

52

82

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Biden blamed for high food prices is BS, like so much else about MAGA attacks. One true reason for food price inflation: immunizing mega corps from anti-trust enforcement. US ag and food production since Reagan now controlled by monopolies that control every wing of the sector. 1

2

24

79

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Randy Evans in Iowa Capital Dispatch. "Leaders in Iowa have shown little interest in “the Big C” — cancer in Iowa. Fighting cancer should not be a partisan issue. In Iowa, it certainly appears to be. Cancer’s devastating toll may be tied to agriculture."

It's time for leaders to address ‘the Big C’ in Iowa • Iowa Capital Dispatch

"Government leaders in Iowa have shown little interest in understanding 'the Big C' — the widespread presence of cancer in Iowa."

iowacapitaldispatch.com

6

38

82

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

9 months

Farm execs, lawmakers resist any changes in Iowa farm practices that reduce chemicals and nutrients, saying the inputs are needed to ensure ample food production. Public health advocates say evidence tying farm pollutants to cancer is too strong to deny.

‘We can’t sit back’: Amid polluted water and climbing cancer rates, Iowa eyes farm chemicals -...

Articles in this project are edited by Carey Gillam, managing editor of The New Lede. Faced with a startlingly high cancer rate in the key U.S. farm state of Iowa, public health leaders are taking...

investigatemidwest.org

0

48

80

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

In ruining the economic balance between farmers and their buyers, writes Austin Frerick, not enforcing antitrust law led to monopolies in agriculture that pushed family farms out of business, and wrecked small towns. 1 of 3

4

20

74

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

MAGA forces shut down Kathleen McElroy’s bid to be Texas A&M journalism director. Cowering public universities have been intimidated in other states. Check out what MAGA state senators did to Chris Jones for holding water polluters accountable in Iowa.

In Iowa, a tale of politics, power, and contaminated water

By Keith Schneider IOWA CITY, IOWA – Here in the heart of US farm country, the wretched quality of Iowa waterways is a well-known lament. Farm fields laden with synthetic fertilizers and manure...

www.thenewlede.org

4

38

74

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Legislative opening in Nebraska to quell nitrate contamination. State has some of worst nitrate pollution from commercial fertilizer and manure and one of highest pediatric cancer rates. Lawmakers are paying attention.

Nebraska Examiner

@NE_Examiner

7 months

A rural lawmaker calls for financial incentives for farmers to use less nitrogen fertilizer and help clean up the state's groundwater. From @paulhammelNE

15

11

72

1

32

71

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

It’s breaking through. Reporting on toxic farm nutrient pollution in the Corn Belt. Kansas City Star posts this strong piece. See our Toxic Terrain project from The New Lede and Circle of Blue. A national scandal. Chris Jones sees through it.

The Iowa GOP is dismantling water protections. Kansas and Missouri, you’re downstream | Opinion

The agricultural industry is better than Big Oil at hiding how its pollution harms our environment and contributes to climate change. | Opinion

www.kansascity.com

1

56

71

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Our absurd, disorienting, frightful northern Michigan climate change winter unfolds with fresh weirdness. Yesterday - sunny, t-shirt comfortable, unseasonable 60. Today, howling winds, driving snow, seasonally typical 16. It’s the new normal and nobody I know is at all comforted.

8

18

69

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

The American outback in southwestern Minn. Quiet roads. Corn fields and ample numbers of CAFOs. Deep ditches. Algae covered North Fork of the Crow River. The ecological cost of the country’s cornucopia.

7

21

68

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

10 months

Farm Bureau campaign is eliminating ability of local governments to protect citizens and water from mammoth livestock feeding operations. Here is North Dakota’s story — What we’re up against’: North Dakota towns fight Farm Bureau to keep water clean

‘What we’re up against’: North Dakota towns fight Farm Bureau to keep water clean - Investigate...

Tiny Pelican Township gets dragged into a national campaign to upend local zoning rules.

investigatemidwest.org

2

49

69

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

“What needs to be looked at are things that are probable or possible carcinogens that have increased beginning about 1990. Those carcinogens associated with industrial agriculture are the ones that really need to be looked at very closely.”

Home

See More Breaking News New document: Biden requests $11.88 billion budget for EPA with staffing boost Monsanto seeks “emergency” delay for St.

www.thenewlede.org

0

13

65

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Cost of severe nitrate contamination in Iowa, where more commercial fertilizer and manure is used, and where more drains into surface and groundwater, than anywhere in US, and likely the world.

David Cwiertny

@dcwiertny

6 months

“The utility can also activate its nitrate removal system at a cost of up to $16,000 per day. Because that system isn’t often used at full capacity, the actual cost in a recent 10-year period averaged about $4,400 per day.”

0

6

22

1

41

66

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

5 months

The voluntary steps to curb farm nutrient pollution in iconic American waters are not working. Yet state and federal agencies are charging ahead with what can only be described as costliest, least effective pollution prevention strategy ever devised.

Conservation Programs Cost $Tens of Billions But Farm Nutrient Pollution Gets Worse | ModeShift

VENICE, LA. — Kindra Arnesen is a 46-year-old Louisiana fishing boat operator who spent most of her life among the pelicans and bayous 20 miles upstream from where the Mississippi River ends at the...

modeshift.org

3

44

65

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

Litter on highways and sidewalks is carried by rain into drains that empty into streams and rivers. Thank you Michigan volunteers for collecting the trash. We need to do more. I pick up trash along streets in my neighborhood. Have done it for years. You?

Really? 31,000 pounds of trash pulled from Michigan waters

Volunteers removed 1,846 beverage containers from one six-mile stretch of river.

www.mlive.com

5

21

65

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

8 months

Pesticide makers defend toxic products in Iowa at all costs. MAGA lawmakers are helping with a ruinous bill - HSB 646 - to remove manufacture liability for illnesses and injuries as long as the chemicals are registered with the EPA. The bill goes to House Ag Com next week. 1

3

43

63

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

6 months

Austin Frerick wrote an important book about consequences from weak antitrust enforcement - a big factor in why farming is biggest American polluter. He’s focus now of enthusiastic crowds at book events. I interviewed him earlier this year for this piece:

Austin Frerick’s “Barons” Uncovers A Second Systemic Farm Scandal – Antitrust Waivers | ModeShift

Two years of investigation into the causes and myriad health and environmental consequences of America’s dangerous industrialized farm practices finally enabled me to develop the one-line elevator...

modeshift.org

0

37

59

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

7 months

At last. Other news desks are catching up to our Toxic Terrain reporting about how Biden and Congress are increasing public funding to support farm practices that increase pollution from agriculture. A national scandal. This from Inside Climate News.

The Biden Administration is Spending Its ‘Climate Smart’ Funding in the Wrong Places, According to...

Two new reports say that some of the Department of Agriculture’s “climate smart” designations encompass methods that are bad for the climate. Millions of dollars are still heading their way.

insideclimatenews.org

2

26

56

Keith Schneider

@modeshift

1 year

Dan Egan reports for NY Times on toxic algal bloom on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. See also Circle of Blue’s project on algal blooms and phosphorus pollution in Great Lakes region. Both caused by farm nutrient pollution, a national scandal.

It’s Toxic Slime Time on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee (Published 2023)

Electric green algal blooms are spreading, threatening wildlife, pets, people and cities. And algae season is only getting started.

www.nytimes.com

3

28

54