The Dust Bowl Era vs. The Drought of 2021
By Cathy Ruebel
Weather extremes of 2021 have been making the news on an all too frequent basis. Temperature and precipitation records around North Dakota have been tied or broken. Here at the end of September, weather patterns have yet to change. Media outlets have likened this year’s drought to the infamous Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, saying the only difference between then and now is farming practices. Is this true, or is there more to it?
In the years leading up to the 1930s, farming was becoming more mechanized, crops flourished and farmers prospered. Drought settled into Great Plains states in the early 1930s and crop yields diminished. Farmers needed to plant more corn and wheat just to break even, so more acres of drought-tolerant prairie grasses were plowed under. Deep furrow plowing, followed by disk harrowing, made the soil powder-fine; at the time, farmers believed this was the optimum growing condition. Field preparation was done in autumn so it would be ready for spring planting. Months of harsh winter weather exposed the powdery fine topsoil to desiccation and wind erosion.
As the years of drought persisted, historic dirt storms frequently tore through the plains states, some reaching Washington D.C. and the Atlantic Ocean. The Soil Conservation Act of 1935 sought to educate the public about the problem of soil erosion. The Act established the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), which was renamed in 1994 to Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Education and changing farming practices have kept valuable topsoil in the fields. The massive dirt storms did not repeat in 2021. Comparisons of then and now, however, do not take into consideration many factors that people of the 1930s lived with, or without. The economic effects of the Great Depression added to the difficulties, without the safety nets of crop insurance, unemployment compensation, and food assistance programs.
Ironically, many newspapers from that time about the drought read as if they were written this year – the dry winter, followed by fierce winds, violent storms, little rain, and unyielding high temperatures that baked the parched soil. Livestock was sold (or died) from lack of water and grazing. Withering crops were further damaged by hail storms and hordes of grasshoppers.
According to North Dakota State Climatologist F. Adnan Akyüz in his Sept. 16, 2021 Drought Update, 60% of the state is in an Extreme Drought Category. “Based on the 6-month Standardized Precipitation Index ending in July, the current drought is the worst since 1936. Based on the 6-month Standardized Precipitation Index ending in April, March, and February, the current drought is the worst drought on record since 1895.”
The intervening years have given us immeasurable knowledge, valuable tools, and better practices to withstand dry periods and extended droughts. There’s no way to know if we have more dry years ahead of us, only to be prepared for them.
Sources:
North Dakota State Historical Society
Natural Resources Conservation Service via www.nrcs.usda.gov
The Bismarck Tribune, archive via Newspapers.com
The Hope Pioneer, archive via Newspapers.com
ND Drought Update, F. Adnan Akyüz, Ph.D., North Dakota State Climatologist, Sept. 16, 2021
