From Dust to Renewal: How the Great Depression Sparked U.S. Soil Conservation When the winds of the 1930s carried dust across America’s plains, it wasn’t just soil that disappeared—it was hope. Out of that devastation came a powerful movement that would forever change the way farmers and ranchers cared for the land. I’m Mark Oppold, and in this American Agriculture …
Early American Farmers and the Lost Art of Soil Stewardship
A Myth of Responsible Farming Many Americans like to believe that early farmers and ranchers were responsible caretakers of the soil—working the land with the same respect and sustainability that define modern agriculture. Today’s producers take pride in soil conservation practices, using science-based management to maintain soil fertility for generations to come. But historical evidence tells a different story. The …
How Early Farmers Learned to Protect Their Soil
The Dawn of Soil Conservation in Early American Farming In the early years of American settlement, the nation’s farmers often took the vastness of the land for granted. As Mark Oppold explains in this American Agriculture History Minute, early settlers “tended to be careless with the use and care of their soil.” With the seemingly endless frontier before them, many …



