Farming practices in America's heartland, including excess fertilizers and poor soil conservation, have wrought unintend | dG1feEFwX1VxeWl3Q3M
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00:00 <b>The Mississippi River flows</b> <b>through the heart of America...</b>
00:10 <b>a place of rich tradition...</b>
00:15 <b>and stunning landscapes.</b>
00:19 <b>It is also home to some of the</b> <b>most productive farmland in the</b>
00:23 <b>world, but this success comes</b> <b>with a price.</b>
00:29 <b>The very fertilizers that help</b> <b>farmers produce record yields</b>
00:33 <b>are greening America's waters,</b> <b>creating dead zones upriver and</b>
00:37 <b>downriver.</b>
00:39 <b>(Dr. John) We are wasting a lot</b> <b>of fertilizer, a lot of energy,</b>
00:41 <b>a lot of money, at the same</b> <b>time that we're having very</b>
00:44 <b>serious impacts on aquatic</b> <b>ecosystems.</b>
00:48 <b>(Dr. Mary) It's not natural to</b> <b>be swimming in the water and</b>
00:50 <b>not see living organisms.</b>
00:52 <b>Unswimmable, undrinkable water</b> <b>that is inhospitable to life.</b>
00:57 <b>(Dr. John) We've painted the</b> <b>world, all of the agricultural</b>
01:00 <b>lands of the world, in</b> <b>phosphorus and nitrogen.</b>
01:03 <b>(Mary) Why is it becoming</b> <b>unsafe?</b>
01:05 <b>Why are the nitrates going up?</b>
01:07 <b>(Narrator) Meanwhile, on the</b> <b>land, valuable soil is</b>
01:10 <b>washing away.</b>
01:12 <b>Farming practices have created a</b> <b>series of unintended</b>
01:16 <b>consequences.</b>
01:17 <b>(Dr. John) The lake will be</b> <b>filled with sediment in 300</b>
01:19 <b>years, and it will be gone in a</b> <b>little more than a few</b>
01:26 <b>generations.</b>
01:27 <b>(Narrator) Farmers, scientists</b> <b>and citizens are working</b>
01:29 <b>together toward a more</b> <b>sustainable future.</b>
01:33 <b>New ideas are being tested,</b> <b>policies are being challenged.</b>
01:37 <b>(Dr. John) It's change, it's</b> <b>hard to break old habits and</b>
01:41 <b>old traditions.</b>
01:43 <b>(Dr. John) I'm very optimistic.</b>
01:44 <b>We've gone from Axe and Ox to</b> <b>tractors to GPSs to precision</b>
01:48 <b>machines to agriculture.</b>
01:50 <b>We've come a long, long way.</b>
01:51 <b>(Narrator) In a world where the</b> <b>demand for food is expected to</b>
01:54 <b>double by mid-century, the</b> <b>future health of America's</b>
01:57 <b>agricultural lands and waters is</b> <b>at stake.</b>
02:00 <b>Our food supply is on the line</b> <b>and is headed toward a watery</b>
02:06 <b>grave in the Gulf of Mexico.</b>
02:09 <b>♪♪</b>
02:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]