Dust Bowl: Policy Analysis

The Dust Bowl happened between the years of 1931 and 1939. The Dust Bowl was a period of time where 150,000-square-miles of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandle and parts of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico had little rainfall, light soil, and high winds, causing devastating effects on the land and people that lived there. There have been many discoveries and advances that can help prevent a future “Dust Bowl”, but the US could experience the Dust Bowl again. We have come a long way from the Dust Bowl and with advances in areas such as agriculture and conservation, scientists and researchers have delayed the chance of a second Dust Bowl. Some examples on how we have delayed a second Dust Bowl are policies and strict regulations that farmers and other crop producers must follow and obey.
Since the Dust Bowl the US has put policies in place to help farmers and other crop producers. A policy that has been put into place is the 2014 Farm Bill. The 2014 farm Bill was enacted on February 7, 2014. This Bill is being helped to be put into full effect by NRCS or Natural Resources Conservation Services. They help by offering financial assistance and easement programs and partnership. The financial assistance and technical assistance is offered “to help agricultural producers make and maintain conservation improvements on their land.” The easement programs are offered to “eligible landowners to conserve working agricultural lands, wetlands, grasslands and forest lands.” The partnership aspect is that “NRCS works with partners to leverage additional conservation assistance for agricultural producers and landowners in priority conservation areas.” These programs are in effect but could be easily ignored and some crop producers will do whatever it takes to make a profit. Even if that means breaking the rules of the 2014 Farm