Midwest erosion

Increased crop production, changing weather and relaxed regulations are changing the Midwest landscape, particularly in the form of erosion:

The thing that’s really smacking us now are the high-intensity, high-volume rainstorms that we’re getting,” said Richard M. Cruse, agronomy professor at Iowa State and director of the Iowa Daily Erosion Project. “In a variety of locations, we’re losing topsoil considerably faster — 10 to as much as 50 times faster — than it’s forming.” Erosion can damage water quality by dumping fertilizers and pesticides into water supplies. It can also hurt crop yields by washing away rich topsoil.