Farmers started using plows after technology improvements. Deep plowing would rip up native grasses that would help lock in moisture for the soil, about 5.2 acres of farmland to be exact. As the nation went into a depression the price of wheat plummeted from $2 a bushel to 40 cents. This caused farmers to plow fields at even faster rates as before. To make things worse, Farmers to eliminate weeds would burn fields in taking away more moisture throughout soil. This combined with long droughts and wind erosion soon became a perfect formula for dust clouds. Writer Timothy Egan calls the Dust Bowl "a classic tale of human beings pushing too hard against nature, and nature pushing back."