Albeit many agricultural lands were devastated by the independence wars and outlaw banditry Chilean agriculture recovered fast and new lands were opened up for agriculture. This development, along with other factors, led to a conflict with free Mapuches in Araucanía. With the whole of Araucanía conquered in 1883 the region became the following decades known as the "granary of Chile". Dispossessed Mapuches were marginalized to small plots or mountainous terrain where their husbandry operations caused severe soil erosion. Chilean and foreign settlers intensive monoculture of wheat and logging also contributed to severe erosion. In the far south a sheep farming boom developed at the turn of the century as the Patagonian grasslands became settled.