Hunt CENTURY Family Farm | A Bioreactor is installed
A 2019 report by Environmental Research showed that more than 300 of Iowa's yearly cancer cases are attributable to nitrate exposure. Runoff from the surface of fields can carry soil with it; when these sediments are carried to waterways, they can kill aquatic species, fill up reservoirs, and make drinking water harder to treat.
Today a bioreactor is installed on the Hunt farm. A bioreactor is basically a buried trench filled with a carbon source – usually wood chips – installed at the edge of a field. Tile drains from the field carry excess water from the plant root zone, and divert a portion of the drainage water into the bioreactor. This will help filter the water before it is dumped into the streams and carried to our water sources.