Report: Fertilizer industry profits off of Iowa’s nitrate problem

New data shows that fertilizer companies are profiting from dangerous levels of nitrate and other toxins in Iowa waterways.

Public News Service

September 14, 2026

The Des Moines River, which is routinely polluted with high levels of nitrate, is a primary source of drinking water for the capital city's 550,000 residents. (Adobe Stock)

By Mark Moran

New data from Food & Water Watch show that fertilizer companies are profiting from dangerous levels of nitrate and other toxins in Iowa waterways.

The report contends that as the contaminants drive the state’s already high cancer rate, corporations are raking in massive revenue.

The data show that the two largest nitrogen fertilizer producers, CF Industries and Nutrien, increased their profits by nearly 90% between 2024 and 2025, as Iowa farmers paid 60% more for the products.

The Des Moines River, which is routinely polluted with high levels of nitrate, is a primary source of drinking water for the capital city’s 550,000 residents. (Adobe Stock)

Food & Water Watch Senior Researcher Kat Ruane said fertilizer profits are coming at the expense of the state’s residents.

“For everyday Iowans, the effects are in their water. You have 40% of the nitrogen in the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers, which are the drinking water sources for over 500,000 Iowans, coming from these chemical fertilizers,” Ruane said.

Iowa introduced a voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy in 2013, but the data show that nitrogen pollution in Iowa waterways has increased every year since.

Misconceptions around nitrate levels in Iowa

Fertilizer makers have attributed high nitrate levels to seasonal spikes related to farming as well as weather events. But federal environmental data show that not to be the case, and the nitrate levels remain dangerously high year-round.

When Iowa introduced the optional nutrient reduction plan in 2013, state officials were confident that farmers would voluntarily reduce so-called nitrogen loading to protect groundwater, but Ruane said that approach hasn’t worked.

“We looked at fertilizer tonnage distributed across Iowa roughly since the introduction of that policy, and we found that it has only increased over this time,” Ruane said.

CF Industries and Nutrien control more than half of the fertilizer market in the U.S. and their combined profits topped $4 billion last year.

In addition to farm fertilizer leaching into groundwater, the presence of nitrates in Iowa waterways has also been linked to factory farming.