Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl: A Disaster of Ecological and Agricultural Proportions

The period between 1930 and 1940 was a tough time for the citizens of American and Canadian prairies from an ecological and agricultural point of view. The period was characterised by severe dusty storms that negatively impacted on the ecology and the agricultural activities of the area. The term dust bowl was coined by Edward Stanley, at the time an Associated Press editor, to describe the events resulting from the dust storms (National Weather Service). The dust caused extensive damage to agricultural farmland, properties and turned days into nights with dust that reduced visibility to merely five feet. The dust covered every inch of the Great Plains causing a stifling effect that caused people to develop sore throats and dust colds (Miller). The dust bowl was characterised by drought, severe famine and poverty. The dust bowl was caused by people's insatiable desire to farm huge chunks of land using unfavourable farming methods that encourage soil erosion.

Causes

The dust bowl area falls on the Great Plains of the US covering the regions of the Midwest states of Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. This area is climatically semiarid receiving less than 20 inches of rainfall in a year. The rainfall is just enough to support shortgrass prairie biome. The region also experiences drought periods that alternates with periods of unusual wetness throughout the year. The region offers bountiful harvest during the rainy years but crops fail in dry years. The area also experiences high winds (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute). Given the climatic and physical conditions of the area, pioneer settlers deemed it unsuitable for the European-style of farming. The lack of timber and surface water made it less attractive for pioneer settlement and agriculture compared to other areas. However, the government encouraged settlement in the area by offering free land to those willing to settle in the area for a period exceeding five years. This was done through the enactment of the Homestead Act of 1862 (Lucent Books).

Initially, the offer of free plots did not appeal to the settlers but with the end of the civil war in 1865 and completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 the region experienced waves of immigrants from the USA and Europe (Kasperson and Turner II). This increased the land under cultivation. The initial rainfall and wetness experienced in the early 1920s led the federal government and the settlers to believe that the region is no longer prone to drought and that the conditions have changed permanently. The Great Plains region used to practise animal husbandry but with the rainfall, the settlers started massive crop farming. This encouraged additional European settlers to arrive in the region putting more acreage under crop cultivation. Moreover, technological advancement made it possible to employ mechanised plowing and harvesting in large-scale farming without increasing labour costs. Combined effects of the Russian revolution which decreased the supply of wheat and the effects of the world war 1 which increased the prices of food commodities forced farmers to dramatically increase cultivation in order to meet the demand. During this period farmers in the area preferred to use the deep plowing method resulting in soil erosion under windy conditions ( Steinbeck).

Impact

The extensive conversion of land through deep plowing methods eliminated native grass that used to hold the soil and retain soil moisture during dry seasons. Moreover, cotton farmers left their land bare during winter months when the wind is high and burnt stubbles as a way of controlling weeds hence depriving the soil of nutrients and vegetation cover. After a period of good rains in the 1920s, which permitted settlement and farming in the great plains region, the region went through an unusual period of a dry summer in the 1930s (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute). The region experienced a period of below normal rainfall for the next one decade. When drought finally struck the Great Plain region in the 1930s it caused massive erosion leading to topsoils in the area as a result of the farming method practised at that time.

The drought dried the topsoil making it powdery and friable. Eventually, with no vegetation cover, the wind that blows in the plains picked the topsoil and created massive dust storms that marked the dust bowl period. The drought persisted leaving the land exposed to wind erosion. The fine topsoil was eroded and carried to the east by the strong continental winds. The topsoil was moved all the way from South Dakota and deposited in the far east cities of Cleveland, New York, Buffalo, Boston and Washington DC. During the winter of 1934-1934 red snow fell on New England as a result of the eroded soil. Much of the land was eroded leading to huge economic consequences. The phenomenon aggravated the Great Depression and intensified the economic condition in the region. Substantial displacement of people was experienced as a result of the dust storm ( Steinbeck).

The drought caused many people to leave their homes and migrate to other regions so as to look for work and escape the harsh climatic conditions (Lucent Books). The abandoned homestead together with lost financial investment led to severe hunger and poverty in the affected regions. The dust bowl caused an exodus of people from the Oklahoma, Texas and the surrounding states to the adjacent states. More than half a million Americans were left homeless with no food aid. Mortgages were foreclosed by banks as the displaced abandoned their homes to go and look for work. They migrated to the west to look for work. Some of the migrants fell ill and died of pneumonia or malnutrition ( Steinbeck). The migration as a result of the Dust Bowl became the largest migration in the United States with an estimated population of 3.5 million people leaving their homes (Lucent Books). Most of them migrated to California and were referred to as 'Okies'. Okies came to be identified as a population of people who had lost everything and suffered greatly during the economic period of the Great Depression. Unfortunately, the migrants ended up doing menial jobs and settled for meagre wages due to the harsh economic times (Colorado Water Resources Research Institute).

Mitigation

The dust bowl was a disaster that required serious mitigation measures to be employed in order to solve it. The federal government had to act in order to avert the crisis. The disaster made the government reevaluate its commitment to land management and soil conservation. Several government groups took different ways to respond to the disaster. In order to identify areas that needed special attention, the soil conservancy service produced aerial photos and maps of the plain. On the other hand, the United States Forestry Service planted trees on private land in order to create shelterbelts as a way of minimizing soil erosion. The Resettlement Administration encouraged farm owners to resettle in other land in case they didn't want to go back to their dry lands ( Steinbeck).

Within his first 100 days in office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration initiated programs aimed at conserving the soil and restoring the country's ecological balance. This was done by establishing the Soil Erosion Service which was then transferred and recognised under the Department of Agriculture. Furthermore, Congress passed the soil conservation and domestic allotment act of 1936, which required landowners to share proceeds of government subsidies with their labourers. Under this law benefits payment was continued as a way of controlling production and at the same time offering income support. To regulate prices and offer relief the government ordered that 6 million pigs be slaughtered to be given out as relief food. Moreover, the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) was established with the sole purpose of regulating crops and other surpluses. The FSRC diverted all agricultural goods to the relief organisation. Canned beef, beans, apples and other relief food was distributed through the local relief channels. President Roosevelt further directed civilians to plant a huge belt of more than 200 million trees from Canada to Texas as a way of breaking the wind and preventing soil erosion (Lucent Books). At the end of the drought, all these programs helped to avert the situation and restore the nation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a lot can be learnt from the dust bowl disaster. There is a need to conserve the environment because when the environment is destroyed people suffer. Farmers need to employ farming methods that are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Works Cited

Colorado Water Resources Research Institute. A History of Drought in Colorado: lessons learned and what lies ahead. 2000. .

Kasperson, Jeanne X and B L Turner II. Regions at risk: comparisons of threatened environments. New York: United Nations University Press, 1995. .

Lucent Books. A Cultural History of the United States-The 1930s. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc, 1999.

Miller, Bill. Nearly week siege of a dust storm in the county. Texas: Spearman Reporter, 21 March 1935. Newspaper.

National Weather Service. “The Black Sunday Dust Storm of April 14 1935.” 24 August 2010. National Weather Service. 16 November 2018. .

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. US: The Viking Press-James Lloyd, 1939.