I wouldn't put it up to tractors. At least, not by themselves.

That's why I didn't say that. I think there was an impact on the topsoil being too disturbed by the over-use of tractors, and part of that was the result of a massive oversupply of tractors to farmers who tilled the absolute ape-shit out of their fields after the government fucking promoted it, and tried to push tractors on farmers.

I don't disagree with anything else that you said, the tractors are all part of that. What did they buy with the money? Why cut down the trees? How were they able to till so much land? The tractors were all part of that.

Not saying that's the only reason, but I think the oversupply of tractors contributed among all the other stimuli. And for dust specifically, without grasslands and windbreakers, all the soil that got tilled by those tractors went fucking everywhere.