The Worst Hard Time: Wheat Farms Blown Away

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Sixty years ago today (July 7), Hugh Hammond Bennett died. He was the “father of soil conservation” and was instrumental in slowing the ravages of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Through his work with the Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resource Conservation Service, or NRCS), he became convinced that soil erosion was a problem for farmers and for rural economies. Today, we take this connection for granted. In the 1930s, during the Dust Bowl, these ideas were radical.

Americans moved west in the early 1900s. Rising wheat prices, a war in Europe, wet weather, and generous federal policies creates an agricultural land boom for the Great Plains. The “Great Plow-Up” turned over 5 million acres of grassland into wheat fields. As the Depression deepened and wheat prices plummeted, farmers tore up even more prairie sod in hopes of harvesting bumper crops to make ends meet. Then the drought came. Dust storms were commonplace. Static charges in the air shorted out automobiles and people avoided shaking hands for fear of shocks that could knock a person to the ground. Drifts of fine dirt buried pastures and barns. Hundreds of millions of tons of topsoil blew away in 1935 alone. Cue Mr. Bennett and his Soil Conservation Service. Timothy Egan’s book The Worst Hard Time describes Bennett’s theory on soil conservation:

“When the native sod of the Great Plains was in place, it did not matter....Wind blew twenty, thirty, forty miles an hour, as always. Droughts came and went. Prairie fires, many of them started deliberately by Indians or cowboys trying to scare nesters off, took a great gulp of grass in a few days. Hailstorms pounded the land. Blue northers froze it so hard it was like broken glass to walk on. Through all of the seasonal tempests, man was inconsequential. As long as the weave of grass was stitched to the land, the prairie would flourish….The grass could look brown and dead, but beneath the surface, the roots held the soil in place; it was alive and dormant....When a farmer tore out the sod and walked away....It could not revert to grass, because the roots were gone. It was empty, dead, and transient.”
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Bennett worked tirelessly to save the soil—and American agriculture along with it. One story showcases Bennett’s flair for the dramatic and dedication to soil science. As he was testifying before a Congressional committee which was considering cutting funding for the Soil Erosion Service, Bennett timed his remarks perfectly so a dust storm from the Midwest passed over Washington DC just as he finished speaking. A 1951 book called Big Hugh: The Father of Soil Conservation offers us a dramatic retelling of the scene:

“The group gathered at a window. The dust storm for which Hugh Bennett had been waiting rolled in like a vast steel-town pall, thick and repulsive. The skies took on a copper color. The sun went into hiding. The air became heavy with grit. Government’s most spectacular showman had laid the stage well. All day, step by step, he had built his drama, paced it slowly, risked possible failure with his interminable reports, while he prayed for Nature to hurry up a proper denouement. For once, Nature cooperated generously.”

A few weeks after Bennett’s testimony, another dust storm struck the Midwest, giving April 14 , 1935 the name “Black Sunday.” Congress was finally inspired to act on the issues of erosion. President Roosevelt signed the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1935 on April 27. The SES was reorganized under the USDA as the Soil Conservation Service and given permanent funding, guaranteeing the future of the soil conservation program.

Over the years, Bennett continued his work combatting the effects of the Dust Bowl and soil erosion. He pushed for improved agricultural practices familiar to farmers today. The government's response included deploying the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps workers to plant shelter belts. Bennett and the USDA encouraged farmers to try new techniques like contour plowing to minimize erosion. The federal government established conservation districts and used federal funds for everything from grasshopper control to purchases of failed farms. Along with these revolutionary approaches to farming, wet weather and World War II coincided to raise prices and crop production again, making the Great Plains and the Midwest favorable places to farm.

Many farmers, small business owners, and employees are struggling today with uncertainty. The anniversary of Bennett’s death is a good day to remember another period in our nation’s past that tested everyone. Eventually, using science, hard work, and ingenuity, we overcame The Worst Hard Time.  We will overcome today’s challenges too.