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SOIL, WATER, and the STATE: the CONSERVATION-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and AMERICAN AGRICULTURE SINCE 1920 by © 2015 Joshua M. Nygre

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SOIL, WATER, and the STATE: the CONSERVATION-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and AMERICAN AGRICULTURE SINCE 1920 by © 2015 Joshua M. Nygre SOIL, WATER, AND THE STATE: THE CONSERVATION-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AND AMERICAN AGRICULTURE SINCE 1920 By © 2015 Joshua M. Nygren Submitted to the graduate degree program in History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson, Sara M. Gregg ________________________________ Edmund P. Russell ________________________________ Gregory T. Cushman ________________________________ Paul S. Sutter ________________________________ Paul V. Stock Date defended: 04 December 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Joshua M. Nygren certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: SOIL, WATER, AND THE STATE: THE CONSERVATION-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AND AMERICAN AGRICULTURE SINCE 1920 ________________________________ Chairperson, Sara M. Gregg Date approved: 14 May 2015 ii Abstract “Soil, Water, and the State” examines the history of soil and water conservation in the United States since 1920 through the lens of the conservation-industrial complex: a vast network of parties who shared economic, political, and (in some cases) moral interests in promoting and implementing soil and water conservation. During the twentieth century, the network’s ranks included government agencies, conservation professionals, land grant universities, farmers, conservation districts, politicians, and the farm-equipment and agrochemical industries. This dissertation argues that the conservation-industrial complex represented a powerful and resilient alliance that adapted to changing national priorities as well as to specific environmental conditions. These adaptations lent the complex a vitality that propelled the ideas, policies, and practices of utilitarian conservation, and the relationships of an associative state, throughout the twentieth century. Much of the appeal of the conservation-industrial complex stemmed from its decentralized, associative character. Soil and water conservation depended largely on the increased authorities of the federal government, particularly within the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Yet, by filtering its powers through a federal-state-local framework, the USDA created an “associative state” that guarded against backlash from the antistatism endemic to American political culture. The conservation-industrial complex also enjoyed support from the private sector, specifically from industrial manufacturers whose interests were advanced by federal conservation programs. “Soil, Water, and the State” studies conservation from both cultural and material perspectives. Part I traces the evolving discourse of soil and water conservation during the twentieth century as a window into the changing meanings and policies of conservation at the national level. A key conclusion from these chapters is that, as farmers adopted the capital- and input-intensive methods of industrialized agriculture, conservation discourse encouraged them to see iii economic production and environmental protection as compatible, and even mutually constructive. Part II explores how leaders in the conservation-industrial complex implemented their programs and practices on the ground, both nationwide and in the Upper and Lower Mississippi River Valley, by enlisting technology, farmers, and politics. The technological, social, and political relationships within the conservation-industrial complex were mediated by various geological, climatic, biological, and hydrologic forces of the natural world. This project therefore demonstrates the centrality of the natural world to the broader contours of US history. iv Acknowledgements This dissertation is to a significant degree a product of the gracious help I have received over the past several years. First, this project would have suffered without the guidance and training of the outstanding current and former environmental history faculty at the University of Kansas. Karl Brooks welcomed me to KU and helped me navigate the first semesters of graduate school. Greg Cushman introduced me to environmental history and taught me the benefits of interdisciplinary research and perspectives. While Ed Russell arrived after I had finished coursework, our conversations have shaped instrumentally the way I think and write about history. Above all, this project bears the influence of Don Worster and Sara Gregg. Don’s classes were the most foundational in my time at KU, and he has always been gracious with his time and insights. Indeed, it was upon his suggestion that I first started exploring the history of soil and water conservation. Finally, Sara has been a top-notch advisor. She has dedicated countless hours meeting with me and reading my work—unfailingly supportive, yet always challenging me to improve. Sara has molded me into a professional and put me in a position to succeed. I owe her a debt of gratitude. Several other Jayhawks, current and former, have made my time at KU productive and enjoyable. I am fortunate to have experienced graduate school with a great group of peers, many of whom I count as dear friends. Many thanks to Adam Sundberg, Alex Boynton, Amanda Schlumpberger, Brandon Luedtke, Brian Rumsey, Harley Davidson, Jared Taber, Josh Wrigley, Mindy Landeck, Neil Oatsvall, Neil Schomaker, Nick Cunigan, Shay Wood, Shelby Callaway, Vaughn Scribner, and Winchell Delano for shaping the way I think about history—or providing valuable breaks from it—while in classes, in writing groups, on road trips, while fishing, on the basketball court, on bicycles, in canoes, and over beers. My research and my sanity would have suffered without their support. I also thank the large network of former Jayhawks for welcoming me into the fold. In particular, I am grateful to Mark Hersey and Paul Sutter. Mark has shared with v me his knowledge of agricultural and environmental history, welcomed me while researching at Mississippi State University, and introduced me to others with similar interests. Paul was incredibly gracious to serve on my dissertation committee, reading this manuscript with a close eye and offering pointed suggestions drawn from his deep understanding of soil conservation and environmental history more broadly. His insights will continue to inform this project as it develops. To all those Jayhawks who make KU a great place to study, both personally and professionally, thank you. The University of Kansas is home to several institutions that helped make this dissertation possible. The Hall Center for the Humanities provided generous research and writing support through the Jim Martin Travel Award and the Richard and Jeannette Sias Graduate Fellowship, as well as opportunities to present my work at the Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Workshop and the Nature & Culture Seminar. The History Department has funded travel for research and conferences. The Environmental Studies Program provided three semesters of teaching opportunities that not only covered my tuition, but also exposed me to the superb faculty in the environmental humanities and sciences. Paul Stock has been a constant and appreciated advocate, and I have benefited by learning from Chris Brown, Byron Caminero-Santangelo, Dorothy Daley, and Johan Feddema. Finally, this research profited handsomely by help from the libraries staff at KU. Special thanks to Sara Morris, Carmen Orth-Alfie, and the folks in the interlibrary loan office whom I never met yet whose ability to track down scores of obscure documents proved invaluable. Many people and institutions beyond KU also have my gratitude. Liz Nevers and the Friends of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries provided a grant-in-aid award for a month of productive research in Madison. I have received considerable support from myriad library and archival staff, including Joe Schwarz at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland; David Null vi at the University of Wisconsin’s Steenbock Library; Emily Jones at Delta State University Archives; Tanya Zanish-Belcher at Iowa State University’s Special Collections; Leigh McWhite at the University of Mississippi’s Archives and Special Collections; and the staff at Mississippi State University’s University Archives and Special Collections, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Murphy Library Special Collections at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and the National Archives and Records Administration at Chicago. Renae Anderson and Sam Skemp of the Natural Resources Conservation Service generously provided access to NRCS historical files in Madison and Viroqua, Wisconsin. Sam furnished even greater assistance by giving me a tour of Coon Valley, Wisconsin, and by patiently answering a string of questions that helped crystallize soil and water conservation concepts for me at a critical early stage in this project. Justin and Julie Gorman housed me for several weeks while on a research trip in Wisconsin. A number of historians provided valuable guidance at early stages in this research, including Brian Donahue, Jim Feldman, Lynne Heasley, Douglas Helms, and Sam Stalcup. I must also thank several people from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for preparing and encouraging me to pursue graduate studies. In particular, I am grateful to Larry Baldassaro, Lydia Equitz, Michael Gordon, John Schroeder, and Daniel Sherman. I could not have finished this journey without the love, support, and guidance of my family. My parents, Mark and Julie Nygren, set me on what became this path at an early stage by
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