Plowing: Dust storms, Conservation Agriculture, and need for a “Soil Health Act”

Introduction

The dust storm tragedy on I-55 in central Illinois on May 1, 2023, a reminder of the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s, necessitates urgent policy intervention to replace plow tillage with Conservation Agriculture (CA) involving no-tillage with crop biomass mulch, cover cropping, and complex crop rotations. System-based CA has co-benefits including control of soil erosion by wind (dust storm) and water, low risks of nonpoint source pollution including algal bloom, adaptation and mitigation of climate change, reduced incidence of drought-flood syndrome, sustained productivity, high farm income, and improved soil health. The current farm bill already contains a Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Growing Climate Solutions Act that can all be complemented and more effective with a healthy soil. The forthcoming farm bill should have provision to reward farmers for ecosystem services at a nominal rate, e.g., US$50 ac⁻¹ yr⁻¹ (~US$123.46 ha⁻¹ y⁻¹), through a proposed “Soil Health Act” to further CA as a solution to climate change and other environmental issues. Restoring soil …