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Livestock raising in the U.S. is largely responsible for loss of topsoil.
Overgrazing causes deterioration of western rangeland. Experts agree that the rangelands, including publicly owned rangelands in the West, are in better condition than they have been since the turn of the century. Most of the nation's cropland is used to produce crops for human food use or export. That is why producers as well as other farmers and ranchers are now involved in soil conservation programs. Western range conditions suffered early in the 1900s because of drought and over-grazing.