A protracted drought compounded the plight of the farmers, especially in dry sections of the Midwest. During the first third of the twentieth century, midwestern farmers perfected dryland techniques. This entailed “dragging” the fields after rainfall to improve absorption, raking them repeatedly to eliminate water-devouring weeds, and plowing the soil deeply and frequently to allow rain to sink in quickly. The use of tractors, combines, plows, and trucks during the 1920s made possible this intensive working of the fields. Farmers planted the driest areas in winter wheat, which required little moisture; in Nebraska and Iowa, most farmers planted corn.
Then came the dust storms. During the winter of 1933-1934, bitter cold killed off the winter wheat and heavy storms pulverized the soil. By March 1934 driving winds whipped across the Great Plains. In April storms from the Dakotas belched great clouds
A huge dust cloud engulfs Dodge City, Kansas in 1935. Source: Kansas State Historical Society.
Of dust through Nebraska and Kansas. In May, after the fields had been plowed, more windstorms scattered the seeds and topsoil.
The summer of 1934 was dry, especially in the Dakotas and western Kansas. These farmers were accustomed to dry weather, but the topsoil had been loosened through dryland farming. Strong winds scooped up the dried-out dirt and blew it in heaving clouds throughout the plains. Dust, forced into people’s lungs, induced “dust pneumonia,” a respiratory ailment that sometimes proved fatal.
The winds devastated wheat and corn. Over 30 percent of the crops in much of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and the Oklahoma panhandle failed. Two years later, another drought produced similar results. Coming in the midst of the Great Depression, this second calamity proved more than many farmers could bear. Tens of thousands abandoned their farms.
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