WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) – If a Wisconsin congressman has his way, farmers would get federal help to keep phosphorus from running off into streams.
Sherwood House Republican Reid Ribble is backing a bill to provide $30 million in grant funding. It follows a bill last month in which two Michigan House members encourage all Great Lakes states to create farm grants similar to those in their home state.
Ribble says the latest proposal would help farms create buffer zones between their fields and streams — or pay for equipment like tillers which farmers could share.
Ribble says it’s a small step to improve water quality in the Great Lakes region.
Environmental groups partially blame farm runoff for algae blooms that deplete oxygen and create occasional “dead zones” in places like the Bay of Green Bay.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
