@Jonricha @donaldball @mekkaokereke “Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.” – Paul Harvey

That's a core part of the problem: we don't have the topsoil anymore.

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/24/967376880/new-evidence-shows-fertile-soil-gone-from-midwestern-farms