On September 6, 1952, the First National Soil Conservation District Field Day and Plow Matches were held here before more than 125,000 spectators, who watched demonstrations of new soil conservation methods and techniques. During the event, the presidential candidates in the 1952 election, Adlai Stevenson and Dwight D. Eisenhower, spoke about the importance of agriculture and agreed that the country's future depended on preserving soil and water resources. The event grew out of efforts begun in the 1930s, after the U.S. Congress passed the Soil Conservation Act in 1935 in response to dust storms and floods caused by drought and poor land management. That legislation created a partnership among governmental agencies, states, and individuals to address concerns including erosion control, contour plowing, flood prevention, water quality, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and community development. Today, more than three thousand conservation districts cover 98% of privately owned land in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, and Minnesota has 91 Soil and Water Conservation Districts that generally follow county borders.