from 1930 to 1936, kansas went through a period of time called the dust bowl. during this time, kansas had little rainfall and high temperatures. thousands of farmers became very poor and had to move to other parts of the united states. in total, 400,000 people left the great plains area. the years from 1930 to 1940 was the only time the population of kansas went down. the number of people living in kansas decreased 4.3 percent.