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Only one situation could be worse than total economic meltdown or environmental catastrophe: when they both occur simultaneously. Precisely this predicament befell Kansas farmers beginning in 1929 when grain and stock prices fell flat on their faces and the drought turned the world to death. Historically speaking, farmers have typically managed well during economic crises because of their self sustainability and intense sense of rural community, but this time was different because there was no way to grow any food stuffs to survive on when finances are scarce and the recent influx of inexperienced farmers lent to greater alienation between farm families. For all intents and purposes, the people of southwest Kansas would not have survived the decade long ordeal without massive amounts of government aid. There was simply no way to grow the foods necessary to eat, let alone sell in the bleak marketplace. Many fled the region, or as many who had the means to do so, but for most it was infeasible either morally, they refused to leave their family farms, or economically, have absolutely no money put a stop to any migration plans in a hurry. Kansans are a hearty people though and managed to ride out the absolute worst of times and learn many lessons from it, the most important being proper agricultural techniques that would help quell the massive dust clouds. Due to poor farming practices over the past century, the top soil had all but disappeared making it an easy target for the prominent western winds every spring. It also helped to strengthen their resolve as agriculturalists and their importance to the country as a whole; they felt that you had to be a special kind of person to stick it out through the toughest of times and still continue farming after it was all said and done.
Sam Weinberg
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