Dust Bowl

I seen <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/03/07/build/local/55-windpix.inc">these pictures</a> in the Billings Gazette this morning and my first thought was Dust Bowl Days. Now by no means do I remember this, I am not that old by any stretch of the imagination, but I have heard stories from my Grandpa about it and I really don't want to see the likes of it.<br />n<!–more–><br />nWhat really got me was the caption on the second picture.<br />n<br />n<i>A farmer plows fields south of King Avenue West Saturday. The technique keeps topsoil from blowing away.</i><br />n<br />nNow I don't know where this information comes from but that is not the way I understand it to work. Disclaimer first, I am not a farmer and do not understand the intricacies of tilling the soil like a "true farmer" would understand it. I am good enough to scratch around and raise enough feed to feed my cattle every year (unless it is exceptionally dry) and I understand how the Soil Conservation Service would like me to farm to preserve topsoil. What they tell me is to minimize tilling the soil and to insure when you do till it that you leave a lot of trash (crop residue) on top of the ground to hold the moisture in and soil down. Now this makes sense to me and I try to do these things. Now maybe a "real farmer" could tell me the fault in my thought process but I don't think it is a real wise idea to be tilling the soil in a wind storm.<br />n<br />n<b>Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established. George Carlin</b>