Upwind Report

Glyphosate use in Mahaska County, Iowa

Estimated farm glyphosate use in Mahaska County, Iowa was 367 pounds per square mile of county land in 2019, higher than 87% of US counties.

Map of Mahaska County, Iowa and nearby counties, coloring each county's cropland by estimated farm glyphosate use per square mile of county land in the 2019 high estimate. Darker colors mean more use.

2019 numbers

Per square mile of county land367lbTop 13% in the US
US
372nd of 3,060
Iowa
61st of 99
Per square mile of cropland388lb

Ranks are by use per square mile of county land, on the 2019 high estimate, among US counties with a value. Counties with the same value share a rank.

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A picture of Mahaska County against the US county median, with the source, to post or send.

Since 2000

Up from 156 in 2000 to 367 in 2019. Pounds per square mile of county land, high estimate.

Every year's numbers
Glyphosate per square mile of county land by year, in pounds
YearLowHigh
2000156156
2001210216
2002183183
2003221227
2004205205
2005254254
2006189189
2007227232
2008318318
2009335335
2010319324
2011373378
2012508514
2013432432
2014486486
2015432432
2016459459
2017449449
2018351357
2019367367
See Mahaska County on the map

About these numbers

The main number is the county's estimated farm glyphosate use for the year divided by all of its land, water left out. A county with a little farmland can use a lot per square mile of cropland and still have far less in total than a county with more farmland, so the whole-county number is the one the map colors, ranks and compares.

These are county estimates, not records. They don't show which fields were sprayed or how much any one field got.

USGS makes a low and a high estimate, which fill in use that farms didn't report in different ways.

Per square mile of cropland is the same total spread evenly over the county's cropland only, so it's higher than the whole-county number wherever only part of Mahaska County, Iowa is farmland.

Numbers are in pounds per square mile. The source gives kilograms per square kilometer, and 1 kg per km² is about 5.7 pounds per square mile.

Source: Hengl & Brungard from USGS county estimates, 2000–2019 (CC BY 4.0). Land area: US Census Bureau, 2020.

This page shows estimated farm use only. It says nothing about health and is not medical advice.