The dirty 30s drought was largely man made, the result of destructive farming practices. Farmers managed their farms to generate the maximum cash flow they could, investing on 10% margin in the stock market during the 1920s. When the market crashed they found that their farms could no longer generate cash and lost everything. It was such a well recognised crisis that topics on contour plowing and summer fallowing were added to school courses, even in urban centres. The USA imported Canadian Soil Scientist Wiliam S. Chephil to lead research at the USDA Wind Erosion Research Unit set up at Manhattan, Kansas.

https://infosys.ars.usda.gov/WindErosion/HistoryWERU.pdf