Farming's natural solutions
Halfway through a 12-year study, scientists and cooperating farmers are finding that replacing chemicals with intensive management practices can improve both farm profitability and environmental quality. The study addresses the concerns of Wisconsin dairy farmers and those who raise grain crops. Developed by scientists in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, experts in organic agriculture from the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, Wisconsin, UW-Extension agents and farmers, the study encourages broad community involvement in the quest for a prosperous and environmentally sound agricultural sector. Sites are located in Columbia and Walworth counties. Early results are encouraging. For example, the cash grain system that relies on a three-year crop rotation, legume crops for nitrogen and mechanical weed control is as productive - and more profitable - than one that uses chemical fertilizer and pesticides to grow corn year after year. Groundwater quality is improving at the Walworth County site, which has a shallow groundwater table.

Water watchdogs
Although groundwater is an abundant resource in Wisconsin, it can be easily contaminated. Through its program of proactive research, the Wisconsin Water Resources Center focuses on technical and regulatory ways to keep the state's groundwater clean. The center has helped guide efforts to control the potentially hazardous flow of atrazine, a pesticide used in corn production, into the water supply. Studies from the center have identified atrazine and its four toxic metabolites in groundwater and traced their flow. In response to potential health threats, the state has restricted atrazine use, and in some areas has banned it entirely.

Invisible killers
Marty Kanarek makes his living tracking down deadly killers, but his suspects are quite unusual - they can't answer questions and most aren't visible to the naked eye. Kanarek, professor of preventive medicine and environmental studies, explores indoor air pollution and how it affects health. Some of the pollutants most harmful to humans, he says, are found in the inner spaces of our homes, office buildings and other workplaces. Those airborne pollutants are small particulates from tobacco smoke; formaldehyde and other organic substances; carbon monoxide; nitrogen dioxide; microbes; fungi and spores. In collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Kanarek has studied lead levels in inner-city Milwaukee homes. The findings: Some indoor dust and air is contaminated with lead from old paint and old leaded gasoline tracked in from soil, and that contamination negatively affects children's health, IQ levels and behavior. Kanarek has also co-authored a book for building managers and others in the building trades that explains how to avoid the most harmful contaminants. Homeowners, he says, can purchase inexpensive kits that detect contaminants, or they can turn to their local utilities and health departments for help. Good ventilation and source elimination or control, he adds, are the best tactics for ending the threat.