The Farming Problem
Mr. Nick Reget
Leading to the Problems
In the early 1900s the Agricultural Adjustment Administration was made to raise the price of crops to make the farmer be able to make it by. This didn't really change much, by the end of World War I farming became less common because of how many farmers stopped farming since they didn't make enough money. Those farming in the roaring 20s were stuck in a cycle of debt.
Great Depression
When the Great Depression initially hit, farmers were hit hard and wondered if they would be able to make it. The AAA came back and told the farmers that they would pay them to farm less crops. The AAA tried to raise the income of farmers by decreasing the supply. The farmers had no problem with what was going on.
Hitting the Public
With crops being more expensive it was harder for the very poor and homeless to be able to buy food and products such tobacco and cotton. The price of corn doubled while the AAA was involved. This made it much harder for everybody ,but especially the poor and many starved to death because of this.
Sharecroppers
Sharecroppers didn't really get any of the money that the AAA was paying out, it was only the landlords. The landlords would usually spend the extra money on more farm equipment, which made the need for sharecroppers die out. This is about the time that sharecropping ended for good, due to the AAA.
The Fall of the AAA
In 1936 the Supreme Court ruled that what the AAA was doing was unconstitutional and ended the program. By this time the soil has been depleted of nutrients and was very weak and more like dust. Dust bowls began to spread commonly in the deep south. The Roosevelt administration decided to repackage the agriculteral subsidies to save the environment. The soil conservation and domestic allotment act paid farmers to plant clover and alfalfa instead of wheat/corn and other crops to return nutrients to the soil. Everybody happy.