Ashley Williams

The Importance of Herbicides for Natural Resource Conservation in the USA

Early American agriculture was on an unsustainable path. Westward expansion in the nineteenth century continually brought new land into production; thus, good land management was not a priority. Much of the nation’s soil was lost to erosion from exhaustive tillage operations. The Dust Bowl storms of the 1930s brought the value of this method of weed control into question. Today, growers address the issue of soil erosion by using herbicides to control weeds. Herbicides are so crucial to preserving soil that modern farm conservation practices are not possible without them. Herbicides also contribute to water and fuel savings by easing irrigation demands and reducing plowing.