Heartland to Gulf: Farmers, Agricultural Leaders and Natural Resource Professionals Work to Reduce Gulf Hypoxia

July 31, 2019

Land grant universities in 12 of the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) states are working alongside the Hypoxia Task Force to address gulf hypoxia, the response to excess nitrogen and phosphorus entering the Gulf of Mexico. One of those universities is Mississippi State University, which conducts research on nutrient reduction strategies in collaboration with farmers and the agricultural industry and leads the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), a collaboration of research universities that conducts research for NOAA.

Recently, the MARB held a workshop that brought together farmers, fisherman, natural resource professionals and agricultural industry leaders from across the basin to learn from one another and brainstorm ways to reduce Gulf Hypoxia.  Mississippi State’s  Beth Baker, associate extension professor and director of Research and Education to Advance Conservation and Habitat (REACH) and Steve Ashby, co-director for the Northern Gulf Institute,  presented information about management strategies and water quality in the Mississippi Bight, as well as collaborative partnerships to tackle nutrient losses in the MARB.