The Dust Bowl of the 1930s saw many farmers migrate to the Midwestern and southern plains and plow over 5 million acres of previously unfarmed land using new farming techniques. This led to overproduction of wheat which replaced the natural drought-resistant grasses, and when drought hit, the topsoil blew away in dust storms, leaving the land infertile and the farms unable to be farmed, contributing to the economic troubles of the Great Depression and leaving many people homeless and in debt.

1. Darby Esswein

2.  Also known as the “dirty thirties”
 Many farmers came to the
Midwestern and southern plains to
farm
 They used new techniques to farm
over 5 million acres of previously
unfarmed land (plowing)

3.  Overproduction of wheat (the natural
drought-resistant grasses were
replaced with this)

4.  Loss of fertile topsoil that literally
blew away in the wind (that was the
dust)

5.  Drought

6.  The farms could no longer be farmed
due to drought and unfertile land

7.  Dust and dirt covered everything

8.  Contributed to the Great Depression
 Left people homeless and in debt
 Many moved back to cities in search
of jobs

9.  The area in the U.S. that the Dust Bowl
was in