The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl was the name given to the region devastated by droughts and heavy winds in 1930's depression ridden America.  The Dust Bowl affected approximately 150,000 square miles of land in which there was little rainfall, light soil, and heavy winds, a potentially detrimental combination.  When the drought came from 1934-1937, the soil lacked strong enough grass roots which would have acted as an anchor, thus allowing the wind to pick up the topsoil and create extremely dense dust clouds that became dubbed "black blizzards".  These dust storms pushed an incredible 60% of the population out of the region.

Farmers, who were driven by the desire for agricultural expansion and high grain prices during World War I, possessed little understanding of nature, aggressively utilized the land.  Because of this insufficient knowledge, farmers had plowed the topsoil of the Great Plains extensively; this displaced native roots and grasses which held moisture and trapped soil even during times of drought.  When the drought hit in 1934, the lack of moisture made the soil turn to dust; these rain-less weeks were followed by severe winds.  Because of this, the turnout of farmers' crops was extremely low, this weak harvest was a heavy hitting blow, especially in the midst of the Great Depression.

Because of the extremely negative affects of the Dust Bowl, tens of thousands of farmers moved from the Great Plains.  Many moved to other agricultural areas and then later moved to the cities.  This great migration of the "exodusters" left certain parts of the country in even worse economic condition than before.

However these unfortunate soil tillers gained sympathy from zealous New Dealers and the president who set up the Resettlement Administration, which basically was tasked with relocated farmless farmers to better land.

The Dust Bowl was one of the most impactful and devastating periods; it greatly affected farmers and the agricultural economy.  Perhaps if the Dust Bowl had not occurred during the Great Depression, or if farmers had been better taught about ecological happenings, these droughts would not have been as catastrophic and terrible as they were.