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Filmmaker Ken Burns draws the parallels between the current drought and the Dust Bowl.
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Nicole thank you.
The latest crop report is out on Friday and we're already expecting this year -- corn crop to be the smallest in five years people continue to draw comparisons -- between this year's drought that we've been covering on a daily basis.
And the dust -- of the 1930s our next guests can help us to sort out some of the differences and or similarities the filmmaker Ken Burns.
His latest film was called the dust bowl and he's here with us in studio great to see you once again good morning.
What are we talk about -- similar first in terms maybe it'll help us learn some lessons stuff for the -- there were going through right now but what -- you come up with a working on the film.
Will the dust bowl is a ten year apocalypse I think we forget that its -- man made apocalypse -- so -- as marginal land for agriculture.
That had beautiful buffalo grass -- evolved over thousands of years was plowed up an area greater than the size -- Ohio.
And when the inevitable weather patterns return to their normal state not to -- years that had produced bumper crops of wheat.
That -- blue and Franklin Roosevelt could go like this and have Oklahoma on his finger -- And minute today ships out in the middle of the Atlantic were covered in the fifteen -- ten years not one storm hundred a year.
For ten years and -- killed not only crops.
But cattle and children.
Of the dust pneumonia it's what it's like an apocalypse superimposed over the greatest economic cataclysm in history -- looking back.
That and because this is we are talking about on -- Connell was on the air just about.
It's unbelievable to think that this happened just back in the 1930s.
What can we take away from that in terms of your study of the Great Depression of Woody Guthrie in the media and of but of the just horrors that people were living through -- the whole country.
It was drought in 46 of the 48 states and a lot of it very similar time now I think -- can learn is that.
Too often when we respond with greed we know what bubbles are we're just still experiencing the pain of several bubbles.
That's what this was it was a real estate a speculative real estate and agricultural bubble.
That burst with the depression and this drought and silicon learned a plan ahead and -- ahead and I think right now one of the things that got us out of -- Dust -- was not just the return of a little bit -- wetter weather.
But government intervention just and pay people.
Not to plant or intent -- cattle or to give them surplus commodities so they didn't starve to death where to teach him how to contour plan all the soil conservation services.
Started then rotate the crops all these good things.
But then we learned technologically how to tap deal -- -- offer.
Which by the way has been drained and there's varying range of estimates.
But if we don't plan which is something human beings don't do.
For the long term future we have the possibility of not be returning to a dust bowl but the whole.
Central plains becoming an American Sahara because if you deplete -- -- -- -- -- Which runs from you know lower Canada to central Texas and there's no more glacial melt.
To hold that -- in place when the winds come they'll be blunt and they'll be no recourse.
Are you making the case then or you know you benefits and -- are you making the case that -- in this drought which has.
This is certainly measure up I don't I -- -- not yet at all to what -- went on in the 1930s that the lesson if people watch your film they take away from this point the government should be more involved.
And willing to -- was.
Interesting that you don't wanna say that opry RA because the government is one of the reasons why the -- what happened the government had encouraged this -- the settlement of this marginal land -- the land companies to sell at the railroads to sell this land it was the homestead act had been -- -- in some ways the government was responsible.
Chris -- up this this thing and and the greed of suitcase farmers it came in and didn't.
Own it but I think also.
Interestingly enough not only it was the government agency of their deliverance.
But it was also.
The person -- that the agency that.
Was interest in recording this so the beautiful FSA farm security administration but -- we have a Dorothea Lange and Arthur Rothstein -- those are the lasting legacy of a government that said.
We're in the middle of a depression are people are experiencing pain what does that look like and so we know the contours not just of the dust -- But of the whole depression as a result of of the photographs I was -- holiday him.
That -- we the government instead -- I photographs have been obsessed with these you can order like or something like twenty bucks a photograph that's a Dorothea Lange trend.
And -- -- in your house which is a lasting legacy of of those those programs can't quickly even with that why is this kind of forgotten memory yeah but you know what is what it's what human beings do this is this is a story our our film which is going to be on PBS in November.
Is a story a cautionary tale about the intersection of mother nature.
And human nature and human nature sort of -- lives in the moment and forgets the lessons when you.
Do well you plant more when you do poorly you plant more and in this case that just expose more and more land of blowing so I think.
All of the lessons of the dust bowl can speak to us today whether they're direct can directly applicable or not right to tell the story.
I'm just human perseverance this is a heroic story of so called ordinary people surviving one of the worst hard times as the writer Tim -- calls that period.
What we look forward to watching it sure we can learn a lot from November right November 18 and I come back to get out the results and Jackie Robinson we got -- look at that lots of that choice tons of stuff -- and the pipeline thank you can my pleasure to see Ken Ken Burns the -- full documentary an outlook.
That week delay to those photographs.
From the farm security administration I'll tweet it out on during the break -- main --
