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and the Iowa State University Department of History for their support of this project.
The Dust Bowl
In the depths of the Great Depression, farmers on the Great Plains had more
than an economic battle to fight. In addition to facing years of depressed
prices, they also faced a decade of drought, high temperatures, and dust
storms. The Dust Bowl, the name given to the drought and resulting dust
storms on the plains, lasted from 1930 to 1940, although the dates vary by
location. It affected most of the Great Plains, from the Canadian prairies to the
Texas Panhandle.
In the best of times, the Great Plains could be a difficult region in which to farm. The area experienced great extremes in temperature, high winds, and relatively low moisture. Much of the Great Plains is semi-arid, and receives rainfall barely adequate for agriculture. During the 1930s, however, the area experienced extreme drought and extremely high summer temperatures. The worst of the drought conditions came in 1934 and 1936. The combination of drought, high temperatures, and windy conditions resulted in dust storms throughout the region, which were at their worst in 1935 and 1937. Some dust storms only raised a fine haze of dust, while others brought huge, rolling clouds of dirt that blotted out the sun at midday. The southern plains, including parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, suffered the most from the drought and dust storms. At the height of the storms, fifty million acres of land experienced severe wind erosion and a virtual collapse of agriculture.
There has been much historical disagreement about the causes of the dust bowl. While everyone agrees that the weather conditions of the decade were extreme, there has been less agreement about the role human action played in producing the disaster. Much of the severely eroded area was only brought into cultivation in the early years of the twentieth century, and this agricultural development often came without much attention to conservation practices. The degree to which agriculture tipped the balance toward ecological disaster remains a subject of dispute.
For Great Plains farmers, the 1930s were a disaster. The drought and dust storms rendered their efforts fruitless. While many continued to plant crops, they rarely produced enough to support their families. Many farmers slaughtered their cattle and swine because they could not feed them. Even growing a garden could be problematic, since irrigation was a necessity, and dust storms often destroyed garden vegetables. Due to severely depressed agricultural prices, farmers received little for the crops and animals they managed to produce. Prices failed to meet the costs of production. While growing and harvesting a bushel of wheat might cost nearly a dollar, farmers only received fifty cents a bushel, or less. Only the New Deal agricultural programs and the money they brought kept most farming families afloat.
The events of the 1930s caused intense federal interest in the problems of agriculture on the Great Plains. As a result of the provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act, the government ended homesteading in the continental U.S., reflecting doubts about the ability of farmers to sustain their enterprises in the depths of drought and depression. Under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, farmers received payments allowing them to restrict acreage and reduce the number of animals on their farms, a feature of farm programs that continues to this day. The Soil Conservation Service (SCS), also part of the New Deal agricultural program, paid farmers to undertake conservation projects, such as planting drought resistant crops, terracing fields and building small dams. Federal funds paid for shelterbelts of trees, planted to reduce wind erosion.
One of the most dramatic results of the decade was an eventual turn to irrigated agriculture. Although few attempted it in the 1930s, technological developments and the memory of the Dust Bowl prompted its implementation in the 1950s and beyond. The Great Plains are among the most heavily irrigated areas of the U.S. today.
Pamela Riney-Kehrberg
Further Reading:
Cunfer, Geoff. On the Great Plains: Agriculture and Environment. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2005.
Hurt, R. Douglas. The Dust Bowl: An Agricultural and Social History. Chicago: Nelson-Hall Inc., 1981.
Lowitt, Richard. American Outback: The Oklahoma Panhandle in the Twentieth Century. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2006.
Lowitt, Richard. The New Deal and the West. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1984.
Nelson, Paula M. The Prairie Winnows Out its Own: The West River Country of South
Dakota in the Years of Depression and Dust. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1996.
Opie, John. Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.
Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. Rooted in Dust: Surviving Drought and Depression in Southwestern Kansas. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1994.
Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. Waiting on the Bounty: The Dust Bowl Diary of Mary Knackstedt Dyck. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999.
Saloutos, Theodore. The American Farmer and the New Deal. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1982.
Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
In the best of times, the Great Plains could be a difficult region in which to farm. The area experienced great extremes in temperature, high winds, and relatively low moisture. Much of the Great Plains is semi-arid, and receives rainfall barely adequate for agriculture. During the 1930s, however, the area experienced extreme drought and extremely high summer temperatures. The worst of the drought conditions came in 1934 and 1936. The combination of drought, high temperatures, and windy conditions resulted in dust storms throughout the region, which were at their worst in 1935 and 1937. Some dust storms only raised a fine haze of dust, while others brought huge, rolling clouds of dirt that blotted out the sun at midday. The southern plains, including parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, suffered the most from the drought and dust storms. At the height of the storms, fifty million acres of land experienced severe wind erosion and a virtual collapse of agriculture.
There has been much historical disagreement about the causes of the dust bowl. While everyone agrees that the weather conditions of the decade were extreme, there has been less agreement about the role human action played in producing the disaster. Much of the severely eroded area was only brought into cultivation in the early years of the twentieth century, and this agricultural development often came without much attention to conservation practices. The degree to which agriculture tipped the balance toward ecological disaster remains a subject of dispute.
For Great Plains farmers, the 1930s were a disaster. The drought and dust storms rendered their efforts fruitless. While many continued to plant crops, they rarely produced enough to support their families. Many farmers slaughtered their cattle and swine because they could not feed them. Even growing a garden could be problematic, since irrigation was a necessity, and dust storms often destroyed garden vegetables. Due to severely depressed agricultural prices, farmers received little for the crops and animals they managed to produce. Prices failed to meet the costs of production. While growing and harvesting a bushel of wheat might cost nearly a dollar, farmers only received fifty cents a bushel, or less. Only the New Deal agricultural programs and the money they brought kept most farming families afloat.
The events of the 1930s caused intense federal interest in the problems of agriculture on the Great Plains. As a result of the provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act, the government ended homesteading in the continental U.S., reflecting doubts about the ability of farmers to sustain their enterprises in the depths of drought and depression. Under the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, farmers received payments allowing them to restrict acreage and reduce the number of animals on their farms, a feature of farm programs that continues to this day. The Soil Conservation Service (SCS), also part of the New Deal agricultural program, paid farmers to undertake conservation projects, such as planting drought resistant crops, terracing fields and building small dams. Federal funds paid for shelterbelts of trees, planted to reduce wind erosion.
One of the most dramatic results of the decade was an eventual turn to irrigated agriculture. Although few attempted it in the 1930s, technological developments and the memory of the Dust Bowl prompted its implementation in the 1950s and beyond. The Great Plains are among the most heavily irrigated areas of the U.S. today.
Pamela Riney-Kehrberg
Further Reading:
Cunfer, Geoff. On the Great Plains: Agriculture and Environment. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2005.
Hurt, R. Douglas. The Dust Bowl: An Agricultural and Social History. Chicago: Nelson-Hall Inc., 1981.
Lowitt, Richard. American Outback: The Oklahoma Panhandle in the Twentieth Century. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2006.
Lowitt, Richard. The New Deal and the West. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1984.
Nelson, Paula M. The Prairie Winnows Out its Own: The West River Country of South
Dakota in the Years of Depression and Dust. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1996.
Opie, John. Ogallala: Water for a Dry Land. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.
Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. Rooted in Dust: Surviving Drought and Depression in Southwestern Kansas. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1994.
Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. Waiting on the Bounty: The Dust Bowl Diary of Mary Knackstedt Dyck. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1999.
Saloutos, Theodore. The American Farmer and the New Deal. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1982.
Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.