Product Description

In "Plowed Under", Andrew P. Duffin traces the transformation of the Palouse region of Washington and Idaho from land thought unusable and unproductive to a wealth-generating agricultural paradise, weighing the consequences of what this progress has wrought. During the twentieth century, the Palouse became synonymous with wheat, and the landscape was irrevocably altered. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, native vegetation is almost nonexistent, stream water is so dirty that it is often unfit for even livestock, and 94 percent of all land has been converted to agriculture. Commercial agriculture also created a less noticeable ecological change: soil erosion. While common to industrial agriculture nationwide, topsoil loss evoked different political and social reactions in the Palouse. Farmers all over the nation take pride in their freedom and independence, but in the Palouse, Duffin shows, this mentality - a remnant of an older agrarian past - has been taken to the extreme and is partly responsible for erosion problems that are among the worst in the nation. In the hope of charting a better, more sustainable future, Duffin argues for a candid look at the land, its people, their decisions, and the repercussions of those decisions. As he notes, the debate is not over whether to use the land, but over what that use will look like and its social and ecological results.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1314613 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
"The Palouse country is incredibly beautiful. How the precious soil of this region has been used and much abused offers insight into the politics of conservation, not just on a state or regional level but on a national level as well." Carlos Schwantes, University of Missouri-St. Louis

About the Author
Andrew P. Duffin is assistant professor of history at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

Customer Reviews

A history of ignoring calls for soil conservation
This book covers the history of soil conservation (or lack thereof) in the Palouse, an agricultural area in eastern Washington state which is mainly dedicated to growing wheat. The book covers the time period from pre-settlement to the present, of farming practices in the Palouse region. It is especially concerned with the issues of erosion and soil conservation. Especially during the period from shortly after settlement to the present, it uses a wide range of historical sources to highlight in detail the ongoing efforts of experts to stop soil erosion. The pre-settlement and the settlement itself are somewhat pre-historic in the sense that they were poorly documented at the time. An expanding mechanization and scale, increase of monoculture and use of chemicals characterize the successive periods that follow. For more than a century experts have warned of the dangers of soil erosion while farmers have ignored these warnings with impunity.

Despite its focus on soil conservation, the book never really explains the issue. For instance, it does not describe in a systematic way what soil is, how it is formed, and what its role in farming is. What there is, is mostly scattered throughout the book, where here and there a few lines are spent making some assertion about soil, often in the form of a quote. Similarly, the book falls short in explaining why Palouse farmers insist on using summer fallow. It is also short on practical recommendations for soil conservation (other than contour plowing) and fails to discuss the benefits of no-till chemical farming. It is difficult to determine where the author exactly stands on the issue, as he mostly uses quotes and only in the epilogue speaks for himself. The intention of the book appears to be to promote the need for soil conservation, but it fails to make the case. After reading the book, the conclusion could easily be the opposite: For a century farmers have produced ever-increasing yields while consistently ignoring calls for soil conservation, so perhaps the experts were wrong and soil conservation does not matter after all.