-
1930
Agriculture was devastated as fields and streams dried up. Even the great Mississippi River was down to historically low levels. Cattle couldn’t be fed, crops failed, money was short, and there was less food on the table. On top of everything else, agricultural exports crashed; they reduced a billion dollars a year during the early 1930s. It was almost more than America could bear. -
1930-1932
The situation worsened for American farmers and ranchers. The price of a bushel of corn dropped from seventy-six cents in 1929 to twenty-nine cents in 1932; beef prices dropped from ten cents to five cents per pound. -
1933
Henry A. Wallace took office as the newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture. His roots lay in Iowa, a large farming estate. He was a farmer, as well as a geneticist and farm philosopher. Through his family newspaper, Wallaces Farmer, he had peppered rural America with new ideas aimed at solving their problems. Yet he knew that "no plan could be perfect," and his first big move, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, was bitterly opposed. -
1935
President Roosevelt sent direct aid to provide relief for the hungry and homeless in the dust bowl, and the USDA took action to stop soil erosion. Hugh Hammond Bennett, a soil conservationist and USDA scientist, fought to bring the problem of erosion to national attention. Bennett supported the passage of a Soil Conservation Act to create a Soil Conservation Service at the USDA. The Soil Conservation Act was passed immediately after a dust storm from the Midwest engulfed the Capitol in April. -
1939
the growing clouds of war worldwide caused trouble for American farmers. United States agriculture braced for the unknown as foreign markets closed and surpluses surged higher than ever. Although some expected an economic boom, farmers were asked to produce only what was needed at home. However, the situation quickly deteriorated in Europe and elsewhere. Americas allies needed help in massive quantities. -
1940
it took about 10-14 labor hours to produce 100 bushels AKA, 2 acres of corn with a tractor. -
1944
more and more men and women graduated and took agricultural jobs off the farm with the goal of feeding the world. A post war boom was in motion and the major changes in the field of agriculture. -
1949
the Agricultural Act of 1948, had several sections divided into titles. Much like the 1948 bill. The 1949 farm bill also included items concerned with agricultural commodities and miscellaneous areas of agriculture. This bill also included a section on acreage base and a yield system. -
1950
In 1950, Communist North Korea invaded South Korea. Once again the United States re-armed, with agriculture playing a fundamental role. The U.S. military and Korean civilians needed new food supplies. In July, 1950 President Truman ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase agricultural production for the war.