Agriculture in the 100 days

The Agriculture Community
1. Farm Workers made up 30% of the workforce
2. Farmers formed the backbone of the US and Roosevelt saw this as why farmers were so important in restoring the US's economy
3. A more prosperous community would help stimulate demand and industry in the eyes of Roosevelt
4. Many felt that Roosevelts actions were misguided
  1. They felt he should have been more focused on stimulating demand in urban areas
  2. Critics felt that he should have been dealing with under-consumption
Social Issues in Agriculture
1. Tens of thousands of families had lost, or were in danger of losing their homes and livelihoods.
2. Farmers needed to be rescued from rock bottom prices and indebtedness
3. Government Agencies arranged for $100m to be available to re-finance mortages
  1. Links with the Farmer Credit Act and the Agriculture Adjustment Act
4. However there were criticism about what was done at the time
  1. The rural poor were neglected
  2. Most people that recieved any payments were big landowners of big estates
  3. Sharecroppers and Migrant workers gained very little help from the government
  4. Wealthier southern whites dominated the democratic party, they recieved the most help and Roosevelt needed their cooperation in congress
  5. However some leaders were with the more radical groups such as the STFU
    1. Roosevelt ignored the activists
  6. The AAA did succeed in raising prices however most others were worse off and it was the rich landowners that were better off
    1. Not only were 'the little people' in agriculture worse off but also the poorer industrial workers who now had to pay more for their food
Acts
1. Agriculture Adjustment Act
  1. They were there to deal with overproduction
2. Farmer Credit Act
  1. They wanted to tackle the issue of farmer debt
3. Farm Mortgage Refianancing Act
  1. Many farmers were helped with their debts by rescheduling them and avoiding foreclosures on indebted farms
4. Rural Electrification Act
  1. Which aimed provide electrical power throughout the country
    1. It provided low interest loans to rural cooperatives
5. The Soil Erosion Act
  1. Farmers were paid to soil conversing plants and reducing the acreage of crops
Groups
1. Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA)
  1. They believed that the key issue was over production
  2. The act subsidised farmers to cut production in order to increase prices and raise income
  3. They did succeed in raising food prices
2. Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU)
3. The Commodity Credit Agency (CCA)
  1. Made loans to farmers to store their products and the loans only had to be repaid when a certain price for their crop was reached.
  2. This meant the price was to be passed onto the consumer
4. Farmer Credit Administation
  1. They administered loan for the Farm Mortgage Refinancing Act
Droughts and Dry Winds - The Dust Bowl
1. Drought and dry wind storms produced widespread soil erosion
  1. Oklahoma, Kansas, Northern Texas, and Eastern Colorado
    1. It became known as the dustbowl
2. The problem arose from trying to increase acreage; trees and hedges, the natural obstacles to errosion
3. Up to 300,00 farmers moved the the pacific coast
4. The Soil Erosion Act was put in place to help farmers that were affected by it

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Agriculture in the 100 days

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	Created by CammieHall97 almost 10 years ago