During WWI, farmers in the central plains expanded wheat production which led them to plow under native grasses, weakening the soil. A drought in the 1930s caused the loose soil to dry out and blow away in massive dust storms, known as the Dust Bowl. The dust storms destroyed crops and livestock, forcing many farmers to abandon their land and migrate west along Route 66 to California in search of work, as depicted in The Grapes of Wrath. The New Deal created programs like crop rotation and shelter belts to stabilize the soil and prevent further dust storms.

1. The Dust Bowl
By: Natalie Wade

2. Causes of the Dust
Bowl
• During WWI, farmers in
Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and
New Mexico had grown more
wheat to meet demand for food
for soldiers. To Expand crop
land, farmers had plowed and
torn up the grasses that had
maintained soil stability.
• When the War was over,
livestock was re-introduced to the
area, and their hooves trampled
the soil, loosening it even further.

3. • In addition, rainfall
accumulation continued to
drop in the plains region,
drying the land.
• Droughts also struck the
plains in the 1930’s; these
droughts turned the soil to
dust- as a result, the
southern plains were called
“The Dust Bowl”

4. Effects of the Dust
Bowl
• Immense black clouds of dust
reached as far as 4 miles high, and
traveled as far as 3000 miles during
a storm.
• April 14, 1935 was known as Black
Sunday, because it was one of the
largest dust storms that hit the
Great Plains.
• The mix of drought, loose soil, and
dust storms caused crops to fail,
livestock to starve, and farmers to
lose everything.

5. • One of FDR’s New Deal plans addressed
the Dust Bowl, and in 1935, the Soil
Conservation Service was created. It
implemented new techniques like crop
rotation, and planting shelter belts in an
effort to save farmland.
• Crop rotation kept disease and insects
from infesting the areas of farmland.
• Trees in Shelter Belts prevented the wind
from kicking up soil.
• These methods would have to take effect
over time, because the dust storms would
unfortunately continue.

6. • Many farmers felt like they had no hope, and
were unable to sell any of their crops, so they
were thrown off their land and forced to move
west in search of food and employment.
• Many loaded up their families and belongings,
taking Route 66 to California; there, they
expected to find better lives, picking fruit or
working the fields. This scenario was emphasized
thoroughly in John Steinbeck’s famous novel,
“The Grapes of Wrath.”
• Most people like the Joads (from the novel)
longed for a better future in California, but
instead found greater turmoil. Large
corporations owned most of the farmland and
controlled employment. Therefore, there weren’t
many jobs for the migrants because local farmers
worked there.

7. • Many migrant farmers were left homeless and
unemployed- they lived in tents or cardboard
shacks, without water or electricity. Most grew
hungry and sick.
• Rather than using their surplus produce help
the needy migrants, farm companies destroyed
it to keep prices high.
• First lady Eleanor Roosevelt witnessed the
condition of life of the migrants, and
supported Steinbeck’s book, quickly
disintegrating his critics.
• By 1941, the drought in the Plains was over,
and many of the Soil Conservation Programs
were working, but many had already moved
away from the homes they once knew.

8. Fun Facts:
• 1. One dust storm reached the Atlantic
Ocean
• 2. The ecosystem disruption unleashed
plagues of jackrabbits and grasshoppers.
• 3. Dust storms crackled with powerful static
electricity.
• 4. The Federal Government paid farmers to
plow under fields and butcher livestock.
• 5. Most farm families did not flee the Dust
Bowl.
• 6. Few “Okies” were actually from
Oklahoma.

9. The End