Editing Prairie (section)

=== Farming and ranching===
[[File:Prairie Homestead.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Prairie Homestead]], Milepost 213 on I-29, South Dakota (May 2010)]]
The very dense soil plagued the first European settlers who were using wooden [[plow]]s, which were more suitable for loose forest soil. On the prairie, the plows bounced around, and the soil stuck to them. This problem was solved in 1837 by an [[Illinois]] [[blacksmith]] named [[John Deere (inventor)|John Deere]] who developed a [[steel]] moldboard plow that was stronger and cut the roots, making the fertile soils ready for farming. Former grasslands are now among the most productive [[agricultural land]]s on Earth.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Graham|first1=Linda E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BxFAQAAIAAJ|title=Plant Biology|last2=Graham|first2=James M.|last3=Wilcox|first3=Lee Warren|date=2003|publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=978-0-13-030371-4|language=| pages= 26}}</ref>

The tallgrass prairie has been converted into one of the most intensive crop producing areas in North America.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|last=Dáil|first=Paula vW|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozFzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|title=Hard Living in America's Heartland: Rural Poverty in the 21st Century Midwest|date=2015-01-28|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-1838-8|language=en}}</ref> Less than one tenth of one percent (<0.09%) of the original landcover of the tallgrass prairie biome remains.<ref>Carl Kurtz. ''Iowa's Wild Places: An Exploration With Carl Kurtz'' (Iowa Heritage Collection) Iowa State Press; 1st edition (July 30, 1996)</ref> Much of what persists is in [[cemetery prairies]], railroad rights-of-way, or rocky/sandy/hilly places unsuitable for agriculture.<ref name=":3">JOHN NOBLE WILFORD Special to The New,York Times. "Prairie Partisans Move to Save Grasslands: Partisans on Offensive Partisans of the Prairie Move to Save Vanishing Grasslands Reclamation Projects Attitude Changing Surviving Cemetery Effects of the Railroads." New York Times, Oct 18, 1970, pp. ProQuest 118836380</ref> States formerly with landcover in native tallgrass prairie including Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Missouri have become valued for their highly productive soils and are included in the [[Grain Belt#Corn Belt|Corn Belt]]. As an example of this land use intensity, Illinois and Iowa rank 49th and 50th, out of 50 US states, in total uncultivated land remaining.<ref name="auto"/>

Drier shortgrass prairies were once used mostly for open-range ranching. With the development of [[barbed wire]] in the 1870s and improved [[irrigation]] techniques, this region has mostly been converted to cropland and small fenced pastures. In southern Canada, Palliser's Triangle has been changed into one of the most important sources of wheat in the world as a result of improved methods of watering wheat fields (along with the rest of the Southern prairie provinces which also grow wheat, canola and many other grains). Despite those advances in farming technology, the area is still very prone to extended periods of drought, which can be disastrous for the industry if it is significantly prolonged.<ref name="thecanadianencyclopedia.ca">{{cite web|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/drought-in-pallisers-triangle-feature/|title=Drought in Palliser's Triangle|access-date=June 16, 2015}}</ref>