彭博洞察- 美国大型农业产业的阴暗面

摘要：我们已知的是，经年龄调整后，爱荷华州在全国范围内癌症发病率增长最快，仅次于肯塔基州，位居第二高，并且是美国仅有的两个癌症发病率仍在上升的州之一。

- We have been struggling with high nitrate levels in our source water.

我们一直在与水源中高浓度的硝酸盐作斗争。

- It could be farm runoff, fertilization, number of things.

可能是农田径流、施肥，或是其他多种因素。

- Nearly every Iowa County in the Hawkeye state is battling against manure being released into their water.

爱荷华州几乎每个县都在与排入水中的粪肥作斗争。

- 11.12 that is over the limit.

- 11.12，已超标。

- Treatment plants across central Iowa are having a hard time treating it.

爱荷华州中部各地的处理厂在处理这种水质时都遇到了困难。

- We have at what was at one time the largest nitrate removal facility in the world, and unfortunately even that wasn't able to keep up with the level of nitrate that we're seeing in the rivers.

我们曾拥有一度是全球最大的硝酸盐去除设施，但遗憾的是，即便如此，它也未能跟上河流中硝酸盐水平的增长速度。

- We have beaches in Iowa, but they're closed.

爱荷华州也有海滩，只是都关闭了。

They have algae, they have bacteria.

它们含有藻类和细菌。

- The lake, it's really showing up green right now.

- 那湖水，眼下真的绿得显眼。

It's really sad.

真是令人难过。

- Nitrogen pollution is a big problem in Iowa.

氮污染在爱荷华州是个大问题。

It's dangerous for people and for the environment, but there's also a whole other side of this story that's frankly more troubling.

这不仅对人和环境构成威胁，还有一个更令人不安的方面。

It's about the big and powerful vested interests who have really allowed the contamination on such a wide scale.

这关乎那些强大且拥有既得利益者,他们确实允许了如此大规模的污染。

- I don't think it would be a surprise to anyone that there's pressure on legislators and government officials from special interest groups.

我想，立法者和政府官员受到特殊利益集团的压力，这一点对任何人来说都不足为奇。

- The status quo in Iowa is working for some people and not working well at all for many others.

爱荷华州的现状对某些人来说是可行的，但对许多人来说却完全行不通。

- I think in '07 we were made aware that our nitrate levels were higher than normal.

- 我认为在2007年，我们意识到硝酸盐含量高于正常水平。

Everybody is connected to a farmer.

每个人都与农民息息相关。

Everybody is connected with somebody who has had cancer.

每个人身边都有患过癌症的人。

I'd say four or five people for sure.

我敢说，肯定有四到五个人。

Everybody knows that amount who have died of cancer and it's, it's becoming creepy.

人人皆知因癌症而逝者众多，这情况正变得令人毛骨悚然。

I'm Steve Pick, I'm in Remson, Iowa.

我是史蒂夫·皮克，目前在爱荷华州的雷姆森。

I'm 67 years old and I've been here most of my life.

我67岁了，大半辈子都在这里度过。

I was a city clerk and utilities for about 34 years.

我担任城市文书和公用事业职务大约有34年。

There has to be some correlation between nitrate levels and cancer.

硝酸盐水平与癌症之间必定存在某种关联。

- Iowa's cancer rate has been climbing in near lockstep with the rising use of nitrogen on farms for decades.

爱荷华州的癌症发病率与几十年来农田氮肥使用量的增加几乎同步攀升。

Scientists though aren't sure if the correlation is causative or merely coincidental.

科学家们尚不确定这种关联是因果关系还是纯属巧合。

What we do know is that age-adjusted, Iowa has the nation's fastest growing and second highest cancer rate overall after Kentucky and is one of only two states in the US where the cancer rate is still growing at all.

我们已知的是，经年龄调整后，爱荷华州在全国范围内癌症发病率增长最快，仅次于肯塔基州，位居第二高，并且是美国仅有的两个癌症发病率仍在上升的州之一。

- Iowa used to be sort of this marshy swamp land and to make it as productive as we have, we've essentially plumbed a lot of our fields so that we can get the water off the land and make the the land more amenable to crop production.

爱荷华州过去是一片沼泽湿地，为了将其改造成如今的高产农田，我们基本上对许多田地进行了排水改造，以便将水分排出，使土地更适宜农作物生长。

- Iowa is really among the most heavily modified landscapes in the entire country.

- 爱荷华州确实是全国范围内受人为改造最严重的地区之一。

Starting with European settlers, it was literally carved up into squares for individual farming families.

从欧洲移民开始，这里就被实际划分为一个个方块，供个体农场家庭耕作。

With the endless green fields, it's hard to see how farming in Iowa could have a negative impact, but if you look a little closer, you realize it's like any other major industry driven by market forces, entirely indifferent to ecological and human health.

在无垠的绿色田野映衬下，爱荷华州的农业似乎难以与负面影响挂钩，然而稍加细察便知，它如同其他受市场驱动的行业一般，对生态和人类健康漠不关心。

Most of what is grown goes into animal feed and ethanol for fuel.

种植的大部分作物被用作动物饲料和燃料乙醇。

Corn yields have risen enormously in the last 50 years.

过去50年间，玉米产量大幅增长。

To achieve that productivity the state's farmers spread nearly 4 billion pounds of nitrogen from fertilizer and manure on Iowa's 13 million acres of corn every year.

为了达到这一生产力水平，爱荷华州的农民每年在1300万亩玉米地上，通过化肥和粪肥施用了近40亿磅的氮。

Many in the scientific community are worried.

科学界许多人士深感忧虑。

- This is essentially our like sample intake lab.

这基本上就是我们的样品接收实验室。

So those are treated seeds, that's how we do agriculture these days, and that seed is colorful because it's painted with pesticides.

因此，这些是经过处理的种子，这就是我们如今从事农业的方式，这些种子色彩斑斓，因为它们被喷涂了农药。

We spray on there an insecticide, a fungicide, maybe an nematicide, and this is something we spent a lot of time studying.

我们会在那里喷洒杀虫剂、杀菌剂，可能还有杀线虫剂，这些都是我们花了大量时间研究的。

These coatings, once the seed goes in the ground, if there's rainfall, these do get washed away.

这些涂层一旦种子入土，若遇降雨，确实会被冲走。

Farmers just will buy what they're being sold.

农民们只会购买被推销给他们的产品。

This is what their local representative will say is, "this is your seed for this year" and they'll just use it.

这就是当地代表会说的话：“这是你们今年的种子”，然后他们就会直接使用。

There are challenges when it comes to water quality, and I think concerns over the challenges that might be there for public health as well.

水质量面临挑战，我认为公众健康也可能因此受到关注。

- This is our well field here that supplies our water.

- 这是我们的水源地，供应着我们的用水。

We had one bad well.

我们有一口井水质不好。

Well number eight was extremely high - To get the nitrate out of the water, Steve Pick organized the community of Remsen in raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy almost a hundred acres of farmland above the well field.

第八号井的硝酸盐含量极高——为了去除水中的硝酸盐,史蒂夫·皮克组织了雷姆森社区,筹集了数十万美元,购买了近百英亩位于井场上方的农田。

They replaced the rows of corn and soybeans that were growing there with native prairie grasses, and the deep roots of those grasses successfully absorbed much of the pollution.

他们用本土的草原草取代了那里种植的玉米和大豆，这些草的深根成功吸收了大部分污染。

Steve Pick won a clean water award as nitrate levels in Remsen's wells plummeted about 40% in just a few years.

史蒂夫·皮克因雷姆森的井水中硝酸盐含量在短短几年内骤降约40%而荣获了清水奖。

But then it was all cut down.

但后来，这一切都被砍掉了。

- $15,000 worth of seed, of planting all this and wild flowers to be just thrown away to be sprayed, it was pretty disheartening.

- 价值15,000美元的种子，种植了这一切，还有野花，却要被丢弃，然后喷洒掉，真是令人沮丧。

- Starting in 2010 more conservative politicians came into power across the state and the project was effectively killed.

- 2010年起，更为保守的政客们在全州范围内掌权，该项目实际上被扼杀。

Steve Pick was fired in 2012.

史蒂夫·皮克于2012年被解雇。

A few years later in 2015, nitrate levels had shot back up.

几年后的2015年，硝酸盐含量又急剧上升。

This is when the story gets really interesting.

故事的精彩之处由此展开。

Iowa's Department of Natural Resources sent a scientist to investigate the rising levels of nitrate in Remsen.

爱荷华州自然资源部派遣一名科学家前往雷姆森，调查硝酸盐含量不断上升的情况。

That investigator identified the Tentinger cattle feedlot on the edge of town as the source of the pollution.

那位调查员将位于镇边缘的Tentinger牲畜饲养场确定为污染源。

- It comes from there, down through this creek, down that way between the ball fields, and then weaves through town, through Beck Park and eventually ends up in our well field.

它源自那里，顺着这条小溪而下，穿过球场之间的那片区域，蜿蜒穿过小镇，途经贝克公园，最终汇入我们的井区。

- Emails show that the DNR's chief of compliance at the time.

- 邮件显示，当时爱荷华州自然资源部（DNR）的合规部门负责人。

Barbara Lynch closed the investigation to avoid political blowback.

芭芭拉·林奇为了规避政治上的反弹，关闭了这项调查。

DNR records show residents repeatedly complained about the farm's manure flowing through town, but state investigations were shut down at least twice.

州自然资源部的记录显示，居民们一再投诉该农场的粪水流经城镇，但州调查至少被叫停了两次。

By 2017, Remsen's shallow wells were so filled with nitrate, they had to actually be turned off.

到2017年，雷姆森的浅水井中硝酸盐含量已如此之高，以至于不得不将其关闭。

Remsen now has a $10 million water plant to treat deeper wells and much higher water bills.

雷姆森现在拥有一座耗资1000万美元的水处理厂，用于处理更深层的井水，但水费也因此大幅上涨。

- Nobody really questions it at all.

- 对此几乎无人提出质疑。

They just live with it.

他们只能无奈接受现状。

- Political interference like that is not unusual in Iowa.

这种政治干预在爱荷华州并不罕见。

In fact, what happened in Remsen was a microcosm of how agricultural interests wield extraordinary power over the Department of Natural Resources and other state institutions to protect the Ag industry endangering public health.

事实上，雷姆森发生的事件是农业利益集团如何对自然资源部和其他州立机构施加超凡影响力，以保护危及公众健康的农业产业的缩影。

- I'm Claire Hruby.

我是克莱尔·赫鲁比。

I work for the Department of Environmental Science and Sustainability, here at Drake.

我在德雷克大学的环境科学与可持续发展系工作。

For 20 years before that, I worked for the Department of Natural Resources of Iowa.

在那之前的20年里，我为爱荷华州自然资源部工作。

- In 2019, Claire Hruby co-wrote a research paper that was led by Chris Jones of the University of Iowa, - The 2019 paper?

- 2019年，克莱尔·赫鲁贝与爱荷华大学的克里斯·琼斯共同撰写了一篇研究论文， - 2019年的那篇论文？

Oh boy.

哦，天哪。

- That report examined the waterways around Remsen in northwest Iowa where livestock feedlots have proliferated in recent decades alongside a leap in crop farming.

该报告调查了爱荷华州西北部雷姆森周边的水道，近几十年来，随着农作物种植的激增，畜牧业饲育场也在此地大量涌现。

Nitrate is a byproduct of both.

硝酸盐是这两者的副产品。

- What the paper showed was that there was a doubling of nutrient application in those watersheds leading to significantly higher nitrate concentrations in the surface water.

研究报告显示，这些流域的养分施用量增加了一倍，导致地表水中的硝酸盐浓度显着升高。

It's completely unnecessary.

这完全没有必要。

Folks aren't just applying what is needed to grow those crops.

农民们施用的肥料不仅限于作物生长所需的量。

I discovered that there was a meeting about this with a number of the powerful Ag players.

我发现了一场与多位农业界巨头相关的会议，讨论此事。

I looked through the door and I saw on the screen a PowerPoint that talked about "activist scientists" and things really went downhill after that.

我透过门看去，屏幕上是一个关于“活跃科学家”的PPT演示，从那之后情况就急转直下。

- At that meeting was a group called the Iowa Farm Bureau, - Advocating for family farms on issues raised by local farmers.

- 在会上有一个名为爱荷华农场局的组织， - 他们为家庭农场发声，回应当地农民提出的问题。

The Iowa Farm Bureau fits the true definition of a grassroots movement.

爱荷华农场局完全符合草根运动的真正定义。

- The Iowa Farm Bureau projects a wholesome image, but essentially it's a lobbying machine for the Big Ag businesses in Iowa.

爱荷华农场局虽塑造了健康形象，实则为当地大型农业企业的一台游说机器。

These guys don't look exactly like the typical farmer.

这些人看起来并不像典型的农民。

Established in 1918, the Iowa Farm Bureau includes all kinds of investors and bankers and lawyers, and goes far beyond farmers.

成立于1918年的爱荷华农场局，其成员包括各类投资者、银行家和律师，远不止于农民。

It has unusually deep pockets for an industry trade group as well, thanks to corporate profits that it earns from an insurance subsidiary that's very large.

作为一个行业贸易团体，它拥有异常雄厚的资金实力，这得益于其从一家规模庞大的保险子公司赚取的企业利润。

The IFB is so influential that it was able to insert entire passages from its own publications without any citation into an early draft of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy; The state's voluntary blueprint for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus emissions.

爱荷华农场局（IFB）的影响力之大，以至于它能在爱荷华营养物减少策略的早期草案中，无需任何引用地直接插入其出版物的整段内容；这一策略是该州为减少氮和磷排放而制定的自愿性蓝图。

This regulation free rule book is what allows the agricultural industry to operate on a volume imperative.

这种无监管的规则手册使得农业产业能够遵循产量指令进行运营。

The system involves farmers who are incentivized to maximize harvests by huge demand for livestock feed, and also the federal mandate to turn corn into ethanol for auto fuel.

该体系涉及的农民受到激励，因畜牧饲料的巨大需求而追求最大收成，同时联邦政府要求将玉米转化为乙醇以供汽车燃料使用。

The federal government basically indemnifies them against losses by subsidizing crop insurance.

联邦政府基本上通过补贴农作物保险来保障他们免受损失。

- I worked about 20 years for the Iowa Farm Bureau as the Director of Research and Commodity Services.

我曾在爱荷华农场局担任研究与商品服务主任，工作了大约二十年。

I was quite involved with some of the discussions on the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

我曾积极参与关于爱荷华营养物减少策略的一些讨论。

It's really just how much nitrogen do we need to grow a bushel of corn?

实际上，问题在于我们种植一蒲式耳玉米需要多少氮肥？

Right now in Iowa, we do about one pound of nitrogen per bushel of corn.

目前在爱荷华州，我们每蒲式耳玉米大约施用一磅氮肥。

That's highly efficient.

这效率真高。

1980, we were a pound and a half of nitrogen.

1980年，我们每英亩施用了1.5磅的氮。

Nitrogen is the most expensive input I have on this farm.

氮是我在这片农场上最昂贵的投入。

I don't wanna waste it.

我不想浪费它。

Now, could it be done more efficiently?

现在，能否更高效地完成呢？

Theoretically, yes.

理论上，是的。

Applying blanket fertilizer has become the norm for modern farming systems, but some believe there are better and cleaner ways to do it.

施用毯肥已成为现代农业系统的常态，但一些人认为有更好、更清洁的方法。

Iowa State University agronomy professor Matt Liebman founded and ran the Marsden Farm Project from 2002 until retiring just a couple years ago.

爱荷华州立大学农学教授马特·利布曼（Matt Liebman）从 2002 年开始创立并运营马斯登农场项目，直到几年前退休。

- If you look at what's down below the oats here, you can see alfalfa plants that were planted at the same time as the oats.

- 如果你看看这里燕麦下面的东西，你可以看到与燕麦同时种植的苜蓿植物。

So corn likes to grow after alfalfa, and you can grow that corn with less fertilizer after alfalfa because roots can move more quickly through the soil to greater depth and explore the soil for more water and nutrients.

所以玉米喜欢在苜蓿之后生长，你可以在苜蓿之后用更少的肥料种植玉米，因为根可以更快地穿过土壤，到达更深的地方，并探索土壤以获得更多的水分和养分。

- Liebman proved that by rotating corn and soybean with alfalfa and grains such as oats, farmers could actually earn more money while using 85% less nitrogen fertilizer.

Liebman通过实验证明，农民若采用苜蓿和燕麦等谷物与玉米和大豆轮作的方式，不仅能在减少85%氮肥使用量的同时增加收入，还能实现更高效益。

- The principles and practices that you're seeing out here are well known, for decades, for centuries.

你们在这里看到的原理和实践是众所周知的，已经存在了几十年，甚至几个世纪。

Most farmers have been moved toward a financial situation where they're trying to maximize their gross revenue, and if they find shortfalls in their profit, because input costs are high or market values are low, the government through your subsidized insurance helps 'em maintain profitability because we don't assign a cost for externalities for what happens downwind, downstream and downhill.

大多数农民已陷入一种财务状况，即他们试图最大化总收入。若因投入成本高或市场价值低而利润不足，政府通过补贴保险帮助他们维持盈利，因为我们并未对下游、下风向及山坡下发生的外部性问题设定成本。

The production economics favor the high use of inputs and the high use of farming practices that don't necessarily translate into good environmental and human health outcomes.

生产经济学倾向于高投入和高强度耕作方式，但这些做法未必能转化为良好的环境和人类健康效益。

- Some folks will say regulation is the way, but regulation is a real dirty word here in Iowa, and you know, folks don't want to have that conversation.

有人会说，监管是解决之道，但在爱荷华州，监管这个词可不受欢迎，大家都不愿谈这个话题。

I'm not blaming farmers.

我并不是在责怪农民。

This is the system as it stands.

这就是现行制度。

This is what in the US we call a food production system.

这就是美国所谓的食品生产体系。

- I would argue the Farm Bureau system is the envy of the world relative to getting quality agricultural input and involvement of producers in Ag production policy.

我认为，就获取优质农业投入品及生产者在农业生产政策中的参与度而言，农场局体系堪称世界典范，令人艳羡。

And so when we talk about regulations?

所以，当我们谈论监管时？

No, I'm a fan of, set out voluntary guidelines and make sure the system rewards sound economics.

不，我是支持制定自愿性指导方针，并确保系统奖励健全的经济行为。

- The Iowa Farm Bureau has been campaigning for years to be sure that farmers do not have to follow strict regulations.

爱荷华农场局多年来一直在游说，确保农民不必遵守严格的法规。

That has allowed environmental policies to remain secondary to economics in the state.

这使得环境政策在爱荷华州始终屈居于经济利益之下。

Lobbying records in the state legislature show the IFB has consistently opposed and tried to repeal any measures that could take up farmland for other purposes, such as solar panels and environmental restoration.

州立法机构的游说记录显示，爱荷华农场局一贯反对并试图废除任何可能占用农田用于其他目的的措施，例如太阳能板和环境修复。

While big Ag prefers to maintain the status quo, new science suggests a rethink might be wise.

尽管大型农业企业倾向于维持现状，但新的科学研究提示我们，重新思考或许是明智之举。

- There's been some concern that maybe that 10 milligrams per liter standard is not health protective enough, and there's been plenty of science that has started to find associations between nitrate and drinking water and chronic health impacts like bladder cancer, colorectal cancer, thyroid cancer, and birth defects.

- 有人担忧，每升10毫克的标准或许对健康保护不足，已有大量科学研究开始发现硝酸盐、饮用水与膀胱癌、结直肠癌、甲状腺癌及出生缺陷等慢性健康影响之间的关联。

So here in Iowa, we've got communities that are routinely drinking levels of nitrate where people are wondering, is this truly safe, even though the EPA tells us it's below the standard.

因此，在爱荷华州，我们有些社区日常饮用水中硝酸盐含量之高，已让人不禁质疑：即便美国环保局声称其低于标准，这真的安全吗？

Back in 2010, the EPA acknowledged that there was new data around nitrate and chronic health effects that suggested that they needed a new health assessment.

早在2010年，美国环保局就已确认，关于硝酸盐与慢性健康影响的新数据表明，他们需要进行一项新的健康评估。

But here we are in 2025 and we have not completed that health assessment.

但到了2025年，我们仍未完成那份健康评估。

- Today I'm pleased to make the largest deregulatory announcement in US history.

- 今天，我很高兴宣布美国历史上最大规模的放松管制措施。

- For years, federal environmental laws and the US Environmental Protection Agency have really stood in as nature's last line of defense in Iowa and elsewhere.

多年来，联邦环境法规和美国环保局在爱荷华州及其他地区确实扮演了自然界最后一道防线的角色。

Now though, the current administration wants to disband EPA's Science and Research Division, the only branch that does these risk assessments, as President Trump seeks to slash EPA's budget by more than half.

然而，现任政府计划解散美国环保局的科学与研究部门，该部门是唯一进行这些风险评估的分支机构，因为特朗普总统寻求将环保局预算削减一半以上。

- What happens downstream of us?

- 我们下游的情况如何？

This just kind of keeps continuing and continuing and continuing all the way to the Gulf, really, where you see the hypoxia zone.

这一现象持续不断，一路延伸至墨西哥湾，在那里形成了缺氧区。

This is a whole interconnected system, this is not isolated to us.

这是一个相互关联的系统，并非仅限于我们。

- Why do the fish kills keep happening?

- 为什么鱼类死亡事件不断发生？

It's death by a thousand cuts.

这是千刀万剐般的折磨。

We just keep doing this over and over, so it's not just a drinking water problem, it's an ecosystem problem, but we've gotten used to it.