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Industrial Technology in the New Century
By 1900, industrial technology had brought widespread improvements to farmers, Dams supplied irrigation water to dry land and USDA scientists introduced American farmers to new plants, including nectarines from Afghanistan, broccoli seedless raisin grapes from Italy and a new avocado from Chile - greatly expanding what American farmers could grow and what ordinary Americans could enjoy at the table. -
Manufacturing Innovations
As the new century dawned, machines had drastically reduced the manpower required on farms. This increased productivity freed more Americans to pursue new endeavors in industry and in the arts and sciences. Fewer people and less land could now produce the same amount of food. -
A need for Agricultural Education
With war looming on the horizon and industrial revolution that moved people from rural areas to cities, it became apparent that more people were needed to continue in the production of food and fiber (fabric). The Federal government (USDA) supported college programs for soldiers and land grant colleges with programs to educate farmers and future farmers. -
Women's Land Army of America (WLAA)
The Women's Land Army of America (WLAA) was created in 1918 from a need for food production during World War 1. Men had marched off to war, beginning in April 1917, which meant a shortage of farm laborers and food. In fact, the price of food quadrupled since the US enter WWI, leading to food riots in New York City and Philadelphia. Women, who had been carrying picket signs and marching for the right to vote, demonstrated a willingness to get to work on the farm. -
War Time Expansion
Europe became engaged in World War 1. Busy fighting, these nations struggled to feed their citizens and soldiers. The US Food Administration and United States Department of Agriculture urged American farmers and ranchers to step up production to meet increased demand at home and aboard. Agricultural exports soared and farm prices more than doubled. This boom renewed business interest in farming. -
Rural Roots
Despite recent wartime plenty, during the 1920's the quality of life for many rural households was far lower than for city families. Forty percent of rural homes lacked indoor plumbing or electricity, and many farmers began to envy city life. -
Surplus and Plummeting Prices
As Europe recovered from the world war, the wartime market disappeared and created a surplus of products and plummeting prices. Many agricultural producers could not make the payments on loans they had taken out for machinery, land, and seed during the war, and banks began to foreclose on them. A nationwide agricultural depression set in. Unfortunately, the agricultural depression of the 1920s was only the beginning of the Great Depression. -
The Crash Lands
In 1930 the impact of the stock market crash of October 1929 was beginning to be felt in rural America. The price per bushel for wheat and corn plummeted more 25 percent in a single year. As the depression continued, prices for almost all agricultural products dropped even further. The number of acres harvested and the yields per acre also fell for many crops during the first years of the depression due to severe flooding in some parts of the country, and widespread drought in others.
