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Because the practices break down soil organic matter which help stabilize the soil.

The American Dust Bowl was a combination of things, but the frequency of tilling was a big part of it. Farmers now till at least one fewer times per year, which makes quite a bit of a difference.

It's complex, because our annual crops are almost all prairie soil plants, prairie soils are typically bacterial dominant anyway, but fungi typically provide a lot of the soil stability. Tilling pretty much kills all of the fungus, and the bacteria run wild breaking down soil carbon (fungal and crop roots).



We also do crop rotation, altering corn and soybeans every year. Applying nitrogen to the soil after harvest is also common practice.

If it wouldn't cause another dust bowl, a lot of farmers would probably plant only corn since its much more profitable.




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