It wasn’t too long after clouds of desiccated topsoil from farmland in the Southern Plains darkened the skies over Washington, D.C. that Congress took decisive action. In 1935, in response to what would later be termed the Dust Bowl, lawmakers brushed soot off their jackets and created the Natural Resources Conservation Service within the Department of Agriculture. To reduce soil erosion—and keep skies blue—it incentivized farmers to adopt new farming practices, such as tilling less. Since then, the Department of Agriculture’s programs have expanded and the practices it encourages h...