overfarming
Excessive agricultural use
Overfarming is agricultural use that exhausts the land—depleting soil nutrients, eroding topsoil, or degrading water sources through excessive cultivation or grazing.
The Dust Bowl of the 1930s resulted partly from overfarming the Great Plains.
Years of overfarming had left the fields barren.
Gradual wearing away
- nutrient depletionLoss of essential substances
- compactionReducing volume through pressure
- desertificationLand becoming barren, infertile
- salinizationIncreasing salt concentration
acidification · exhaustion · infertility · overcultivation · overgrazing · leaching · dust bowl
Single-crop agricultural system
- industrial agricultureLarge-scale mechanized farming
- chemical dependencyPhysiological need for substances
- groundwater depletionExcessive withdrawal from underground reserves
- resource extractionObtaining substances from nature
When fields yield nothing
- diminishing returnsReduced benefit from additional effort
- food scarcityInsufficient available nutrition
- stunted growthIncomplete physical development
- food insecurityUncertain access to adequate meals
erosion
Gradual wearing away
- nutrient depletionLoss of essential substances
- compactionReducing volume through pressure
- desertificationLand becoming barren, infertile
salinization · acidification · exhaustion · infertility · overcultivation · overgrazing · leaching · dust bowl
monoculture
Single-crop agricultural system
- industrial agricultureLarge-scale mechanized farming
- chemical dependencyPhysiological need for substances
- groundwater depletionExcessive withdrawal from underground reserves
crop failure
When fields yield nothing
- diminishing returnsReduced benefit from additional effort
- food scarcityInsufficient available nutrition
- stunted growthIncomplete physical development
- Depression EraGreat Depression, Hooverville, breadline, dust storms, soup kitchen
- overuseoveruse, overconsumption, overexploitation, excess, waste
- soil degradationsoil erosion, soil depletion, nutrient depletion, desertification, salinization
overfarmingfallowing
Leaving cropland unplanted
sustainable farming · sustainable agriculture · crop rotation · organic farming · permaculture
farm, farming, farmer, farmland, farmers, farmhouse, farmhand, farmstead, farmlands