What are the Great Plains used for?

The Great Plains is used primarily for farming and cattle ranching, producing the bulk of American grain (wheat, corn, sorghum, and barley), oilseeds (soybeans, sunflower, canola), beef cattle, and many other agricultural products on a vast scale. The Plains also supply oil and natural gas (especially in Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Wyoming), wind energy (the strongest wind resources in the country), coal (particularly in Wyoming's Powder River Basin), and other minerals.

Agriculture is the dominant land use. The Great Plains breaks roughly into three agricultural belts. The Wheat Belt covers Kansas (the leading wheat-producing state), North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. Hard red winter wheat dominates the southern Plains, while hard red spring wheat dominates the northern Plains. About 75 percent of U.S. wheat production comes from the Great Plains. The Corn Belt extends from the eastern Plains (Nebraska, Kansas, eastern South Dakota) into the Midwest. The Plains produce a major share of American corn, especially in irrigated areas. Soybeans are increasingly important, particularly in the eastern Plains.

Cattle ranching is the second major use. The Plains support about 27 million beef cattle, roughly a third of the U.S. herd. The cattle industry developed after the Civil War with long drives from Texas to Kansas railheads (Abilene, Dodge City, Wichita) along trails like the Chisholm Trail. Railroad expansion ended the long drives by the 1880s, but ranching continued. Major cattle feedlots concentrate animals for fattening before slaughter. Major beef-packing centers include Garden City, Liberal, and Dodge City, Kansas; Lexington, Nebraska; and Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas. Hog and dairy farming also occurs throughout the region.

Irrigation is increasingly important. The Ogallala Aquifer, an underground water reservoir of about 174,000 square miles beneath the southern and central Plains, supplies about 30 percent of U.S. agricultural irrigation water. Center pivot irrigation systems, visible from satellite as green circles, dominate parts of Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas. The aquifer is being depleted faster than it recharges, raising concerns about long-term agricultural sustainability.

Environmental issues include groundwater depletion, soil erosion (lessons learned from the Dust Bowl of the 1930s remain relevant), nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from fertilizers (which contributes to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone), and conversion of remaining native prairie. Conservation programs including the Conservation Reserve Program established 1985 pay farmers to leave marginal land in grass cover.

Other Plains uses include oil and gas extraction (Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, North Dakota), coal mining (Wyoming produces about 40 percent of U.S. coal), wind farms (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa lead in installed wind capacity), and tourism (Mount Rushmore, Badlands, Yellowstone access).