Old-timers say dust storms are nothing new out here, but others argue that certain farming and land-use choices are making the haboobs worse. Who — or what — is really to blame for the choking dirt clouds rolling through town?
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Add your commentThe answer is both. Climate change is reducing soil moisture and making drought conditions more persistent, which leaves bare topsoil vulnerable. Meanwhile, some operations out here are still tilling in ways that strip ground cover. These two things are feeding each other and pretending it's one or the other is exactly why nothing gets done.
The framing of this debate drives me crazy. 'Climate change vs. local ag' as if these are competing explanations that cancel each other out. They're overlapping stressors operating on different timescales. Regional land use decisions show results in years. Global climate shifts show results in decades. We can and should address both simultaneously. The either/or framing is a political convenience that helps nobody living under the dirt.
I have to correct the post above me because this is genuinely wrong and it bothers me. The 1930s Dust Bowl is one of the most thoroughly documented human-made ecological disasters in American history. Over-plowing of native grassland that had held soil in place for thousands of years was the PRIMARY driver. The drought made it catastrophic, yes, but the farming practices are what made the soil available to blow. This is not disputed by historians or soil scientists. Please look up the Great Plains Committee report from 1936.
Born and raised in Guymon, 58 years old, and I'm telling you right now these storms are NOT worse than the 1970s. My daddy used to have to dig the truck out from behind a drift of dirt that came up to the door handle. People have short memories and even shorter patience for actual history.
I'll tell you what the real culprit is: every single large corporate farm that bought up family land in the last 20 years and switched to practices that maximize yield with zero regard for windbreaks or cover crops. My grandfather planted shelterbelts along every field edge. You drive past those same fields now and there's not a tree in sight. That's not climate change, that's greed.
My kids came home from school last week with dirt caked in their ears. Their EARS. I don't care who's to blame politically, I care that my children are breathing this stuff every spring. Texas County has some of the worst air quality days in the entire state during storm season and nobody seems to think that's a public health emergency worth talking about.
Third generation wheat farmer here. We converted to no-till about 12 years ago and it made a measurable difference on our land. I'm not going to sit here and pretend every neighbor has done the same. Some have, some haven't. But I'd push back on the idea that all ag out here is the problem. The ones doing it right get lumped in with the ones who aren't and that's frustrating.
climate change climate change climate change. thats all anyone wants to talk about. meanwhile the aquifer under our feet is dropping like a rock every single year and THAT is what should be keeping panhandle people up at night. dust storms are bad but when the ogallala is gone the whole conversation changes.
serious question for the farmers in this thread: what would it actually cost to bring back more shelterbelts and no-till on a wider scale? i've read the NRCS has cost-share programs for exactly this. is uptake low because of awareness or because the economics still don't pencil out even with help?
Anyone else remember the storm on April 14, 2015? They called it a Black Sunday anniversary event. I was driving out near Hooker and that wall came up and swallowed everything. Visibility went to absolute zero in about 90 seconds. I pulled over and just sat there. That's not a little dusty wind, that's a biblical event. Those are happening more often. Tell me that's normal.
okay so i moved here from tulsa two years ago for work and i genuinely did not know what i was signing up for. had my first real dust storm last april and i thought the apocalypse was happening. whatever is causing them i just want someone to fix it lol
I grew up in Guymon in the 80s and moved to Denver in 2001. I come back every Thanksgiving and I can tell you with fresh eyes that the landscape looks more exposed than I remember as a kid. Fewer trees along the fields, more bare dirt patches between operations. Could just be my nostalgia playing tricks but I don't think so. Something looks different.
Nope. Hard disagree with blaming the farmers. These people are barely keeping their heads above water financially and now we want to pile environmental guilt on top of them? The wind has always blown in the Panhandle. Always will. That's just Oklahoma.
Fun fact nobody mentions: the Dust Bowl of the 1930s was actually caused entirely by a single decade of bad rainfall and had nothing to do with farming practices at all. Crops had zero impact. So same thing now — it's just a weather cycle, folks.
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