It is important to continue to use good farming techniques. Not much terracing taking place in the 30's. In the 30's sometimes they tried to plant crops from fence to fence without leaving untilled margins that would stop runoff while leaving the transition zones where quail, pheasant, and other animals thrive.

In the 30's my farming grandfather had a big pond that all the kids in the area would gather at to swim. The neighboring farmer's plot of land was uphill from my grandfather. He tilled his entire 160 acres and all the topsoil ran into the pond filling it up and choking it.

There is also a plant called jatropha that looks interesting as it grows on marginal quality land. When its se...

It is important to continue to use good farming techniques. Not much terracing taking place in the 30's. In the 30's sometimes they tried to plant crops from fence to fence without leaving untilled margins that would stop runoff while leaving the transition zones where quail, pheasant, and other animals thrive.

In the 30's my farming grandfather had a big pond that all the kids in the area would gather at to swim. The neighboring farmer's plot of land was uphill from my grandfather. He tilled his entire 160 acres and all the topsoil ran into the pond filling it up and choking it.

There is also a plant called jatropha that looks interesting as it grows on marginal quality land. When its seeds are cold pressed it produces 90% biodiesel with minimal processing. I also think native switch grass is going to prove much better environmentally then using corn for ethanol.

Instead of subsidizing sugar cane for cheap table sugar maybe it can be a plastics producer.

Yes, all good additional information about the various crops, including natural weeds that we spend so much money to eradicate when we could use it to replace petro based chemicals.

I think you would be surprised to see that most of the windbreaks planted in the 1930's have never been replaced as they died. Most of the western parts of Oklahoma and Kansas are being farmed again as they were before the Dust Bowl. The philosophy seems to be that they will continue to farm this way while they still have some water in the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate.

Many of these farms are corporate farms.

Texans never really bought into the whole windbreak thing anyway. They just suck all the water out o...

Yes, all good additional information about the various crops, including natural weeds that we spend so much money to eradicate when we could use it to replace petro based chemicals.

I think you would be surprised to see that most of the windbreaks planted in the 1930's have never been replaced as they died. Most of the western parts of Oklahoma and Kansas are being farmed again as they were before the Dust Bowl. The philosophy seems to be that they will continue to farm this way while they still have some water in the Ogallala Aquifer to irrigate.

Many of these farms are corporate farms.

Texans never really bought into the whole windbreak thing anyway. They just suck all the water out of the Ogallala Aquifer, like locusts devastating the crops in a field.

I don't know about the northern Great Plains states, except that the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska has diminished by about 40 feet.....that is 40 feet times all the square miles of aquifer...that's alot of water being used so fast it can't be replenished.