EXAM 4 AG HISTORY

Agricultural History
Exam #4 - Preparation (suggestions)
Chapters: 7 & 8 (pp 287 – 376)+ highlights mentioned for Chapter 9

1.       When did the US enter WW II and what was the general impact on farmers both during and after the war?

1941- ended problems of surplus and low prices after the war there was overproduction and low prices 

2.       Why was food rationed during WW II and what kind of products were rationed?

To feed both the military and civilians with worry of supplies (sugar, meat, tire, gas)

3.       What was the AAA of 1933 all about and why did it come about? 

Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA): Designed as a “farm relief” measure to restore parity purchasing__power (hoped to increase prices based on 1909-1914, indexed to 1919-1929)

a.       How was Henry A. Wallace involved and what was his background?

Son of Henry C. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture (1921-1924)

Advocated mechanization for efficiency and higher profits, Supported production controls via acreage reduction, Founded H-Bred Corn Company, Secretary of Agriculture (1933-1940) under FDR, Helped draft the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), Known for understanding farming issues better than any prior agriculture secretary, Considered the most visible, controversial, and influential Secretary of Agriculture, Vice President under Roosevelt (1941-1945)

b.       Do you understand why some people disagreed with the concept? 

The AAA was controversial. Some objected to cutting agricultural production when many Americans lacked adequate food. The AAA also hurt poor farm laborers because landlords often evicted tenant farmers from unplanted land.

4.       What were some of the commodities the AAA paid farmers to limit? 

a.       Why those seven? •  wheat, corn, pork, rice, tobacco, and dairy

b.       What were the issues with particularly pork and cotton?

Killed pigs that people could have eaten as they were starving 

c.       How did the government initially get their funding to pay the farmers?

• Funding came from general revenue and not tax on processors

5.       How was the AAA revised in 1938?

• Parity Pricing System: Established permanent parity prices for farm commodities, ensuring fair prices based on production costs.

• Soil Conservation: Focused on paying farmers to implement soil conservation practices, like crop rotation, instead of just limiting acreage.

• Surplus Purchases: The government began purchasing surplus crops to stabilize prices.

• Marketing Quotas: Set limits on how much farmers could market for certain crops to balance supply and demand.

• Subsidies and Loans: Continued subsidies for production cuts and introduced loans to help farmers during tough years.

6.       What was FDR’s New Deal? Be able to recognize the 15 New Deal programs that were shown in class

.Relief: Provided immediate aid to the unemployed and poor, through programs like the CCC and Social Security.

Recovery: Stimulated the economy with programs like the NIRA and AAA to boost industry and agriculture.

Reform: Introduced long-term changes to prevent future crises, such as the FDIC and Securities Exchange Act.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Social Security Act

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Glass-Steagall Act

Civil Works Administration (CWA)

National Youth Administration (NYA)

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC)

Farm Security Administration (FSA)

7.       When and why did the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) come about? What were the previous agency names prior to the SCS name? The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) was created in 1935 in response to the Dust Bowl and widespread soil erosion. Its goal was to promote soil preservation and sustainable farming practices.

Previous names:

• The agency was first called the Soil Erosion Service (SES), created in 1933.

• In 1935, it was renamed the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) when it was moved to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

8.       What was Black Sunday versus  Black Tuesday?

Black Sunday was a catastrophic dust storm during the Dust Bowl in 1935.

Black Tuesday was the day of the stock market crash in 1929 that triggered the Great Depression.

9.       What was the TVA and EHFA and what states did they include? How did it benefit those in rural areas? What about REA?

Electric Home & Farm Authority (EHFA)

•           The TVA and the EHFA enabled farmers and rural residents in MS, AL, GA and TN to purchase ___electric appliances __________

•           The EHFA paid appliance dealers for the purchases & charged rural folks low monthly rates to pay for them with low interest rates

•           The EHFA was designed to subsidize and stimulate consumer purchases of electric appliances, primarily refrigerators, ranges, and hot water heaters    Electrical appliance purchases jumped

Rural Electrification Administration (REA) 

•           Loaned $’s to rural cooperatives for putting in lines to farmers & purchasing or generating electricity

10.   How did the AAA help the south?  Did it help everyone? What happened?

The AAA didn’t help sharecroppers & tenants of the South

•           5.5 mill whites and 3 mill blacks sharecroppers – poverty reigned

• Ended up receiving nothing from the AAA except for further hardship_______

•           Drove them to cities & towns – still found poverty

Large-scale operations benefited from AAA

•           Were supposed to share the $ for acreage reduction and allow tenants to stay on the land (‘the great plow-up of 1933”), but few did

•           Made improvements, bought tractors, and released/evicted sharecroppers

11.   How did WW II affect southern agriculture?

Military and industrial demands increased commodity prices for cotton, soybeans, peanuts, and tobacco and encouraged diversification

Many didn’t return to farming - they opted for a higher income and higher standard of living in the cities - Those that did come back demanded tractors and electricity

12.   In the North and elsewhere, why did part-time farming increase?

 farmers wanted to stay in agricultural production and be supported by urban jobs

13.   The Dust Bowl - where, how many acres, etc.  How did the New Deal programs help?

Dust Bowl (portions of TX, OK, KS, CO & NM) ≈32 mill acres

Nearly all Great Plains farmers got relief from AAA & other economic programs à 40 – 75% of their income

New Deal programs were designed to retire marginal cropland and restore pastures, increase farm size for efficiency/economy of scale

 Supported practices of re-grassing, contour plowing, terracing, strip-cropping and tree planting, all financed and managed by the federal government

14.   What really helped the farmers prosper during the 1940’s?

High demand  due to the War 

15.   How did the discovery of the Ogallala help the Great Plains?

Had irrigation “underground rain” diversified and grew new crops like sugar beets and corn

16.   What was fast freezing and how did it impact agriculture (and canning)?

Fast freezing refers to a method of rapidly freezing food at very low temperatures, typically using industrial freezers or liquid nitrogen. This process locks in the food’s freshness, flavor, and nutrients, compared to slower freezing methods.

fast freezing revolutionized food preservation, impacting both agricultural practices and the canning industry by offering a better alternative for storing perishable goods.

17.   How did the specialty crop production in California change by 1935? Who was in control?

Specialty crops increased and food processors and shippers controlled them 

18.   What was the Bracero Program?

• Created a consistent and cheap supply of Mexican workers

•    Displaced African-American and Mexican-American workers from the cotton and vegetable fields who were forced to flee to ghettos of cities

•  Continued the program as an “emergency” measure due to the Korean War, which ended in 1964

19.   The Taylor Grazing Act?  Why was it important? Why did it come about?

• Created a system for managing public rangelands, ensuring that they were used responsibly and sustainably. 

• It came about as a response to the environmental and economic challenges of the 1930s, especially the Dust Bowl.

20.   What did the Resettlement Administration, then Farm Security Administration do in 1937 with poor producing farm ground?

• Allowed the government to purchase the ground to return to grazing 

21.   Later, national grasslands were created? Why? Which one is in Kansas?

• created to rehabilitate the land after the Dust Bowl, promote soil conservation, and ensure sustainable use of public lands in the western U.S.

• cimarron 

22.   Why were many unions formed in the 1930’s and 1940’s? 

• Poverty, sharecropping bondage and lack of govt. aid to tenant farmers brought about several attempts at forming unions :

1. What were some of these unions? 

• Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU)

• National Farm Labor Union

• United Farm Workers of America 

2. What was one of the first and what was unique about it?

• Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU) formed in 1934 

• Open to ALL RACES _; those too poor did not have to pay dues

23.   What was the Emergency Price Control Act and the Steagall Amendment? How did they differ?

When consumers complained of high food prices, Congress passed the “Emergency Price Control Act” putting a ceiling on farm prices at 110%__parity__

Steagall Amendment__ provided farmers with 90% parity for a 2-yr post-war period that allowed farmers to adjust to peacetime prices

24.   How and/or what did the government do to reduce the excess production of goods during the 1940’s-?

Congress tried to balance conflicts by temporary price supports & reductions (market quotas)

• Congress tried several approaches

• Congress, USDA, farm lobby - no one knew how to solve surplus production w/out high price supports based on production controls

) International relief programs _____ (like the Marshall Plan)

• Also known as the European recovery program, the U.S provided aid to Western Europe following the devastation of WWII. Provided more than $15 billion to help finance rebuilding efforts on the continent. 

2) Subsidize the school lunch programs

25.   How did the Korean War influence the surplus farm problem?

It temporarily solved the surplus by increasing the  demand 

26.   What was Public Law 480? What was another name for it? Intended and actual use, which made it somewhat controversial?

Agricultural Trade Development & Assistance Act (“Public Law 480__” also called Food for Peace__):

• The government could sell surplus abroad

• Use surplus food for emergency food aid for friendly & underdeveloped nations

This act became highly political in time, with emphasis on foreign policy rather than improvement of agriculture

27.   What was the Hill-Poage Act?

• Supported rural phones (2 out of 3 farms still did not have a phone)

• REA brought party lines to rural America

28.   How and why did REA fund cooperatives and change America? 

• Electricity indoors

• Helped revolutionize the poultry & sheep industries

• Lights, heated barns for lambing during harsh weather

• A lot of the drudgery and drabness was eliminated

• Promoted reading and contact with the outside world (radio)

• Made life more comfortable

= Electrical pumps, indoor plumbing, refrigeration

REA service was resisted, but once wired they embraced it

29.   Who did technology help the least?

Women in the South (ended her days tired enough to die)

30.   What were two big overall changes to farming that resulted from the AAA?

• Collapsed sharecropping systems 

• The federal government became a creditor

• Farms consolidated (fewer farmers but had more land) = less political power

Chapter 8

31. How did the south change in the late 1900’s (20th century)? The north?

South - An urban south emerged (manufacturing, banking, insurance, transportation) and provided 4 million new non-farm jobs in cities. Farming looks like the rest of the nation (mechanized farming) Tenants and sharecroppers disappeared. Southern farmers were unwilling to remain on an unprofitable farm and did not want their children to become farmers

• Those farmers who survived and remained became much different farmers than those in the past

• Very diversified in crops (soybeans, hay) and livestock production (poultry, beef cattle) for commercial production, not subsistence farming.

• Cotton was no longer king, grown primarily in Arizona and California

• “The old agricultural South had gone forever”

North 

32.   What replaced many of the black farmers during the mid-late 20th century?  What happened to them?

Machinery, science (herbicides), govt programs 

33.   Why were black farmers ignored and stayed in poverty?

Did have land or capital to be profitable, little programs to help displaced farmers 

34.   How did foreign policy during this period affect farmers?

• Gov’t had removed many acreage controls by 80’s

• Had urged farmers to plant more (sell to other countries - Soviet Union)

• American foreign policy temporarily halted foreign sales – farmers could not pay debts

• President Carter enacted a grain embrago__to the Soviet Union in retaliation for its military occupation of Afghanistan, similar to President Ford’s temporary embargo a few years earlier

35.   How was the tobacco industry changed in the Connecticut Valley?

Manufactured cigar binders replaced cigar wrappers, which needed less natural leaf - market plummed

36.   How did farmers in the north change how they marketed their vegetable crops?

Beginning trying cooperative sales 

Some tried to sell directly to consumers via farmers markets, roadside stands. 

37.   Many areas of the county suffered from ‘reverse flow’.  What did this refer to?

New England areas - thousands of acres of agriculture lands passed to developers (people moved from cities to country: concrete cowboys) 

38.   Why did contract farming become important?  Drawback?

farmer agrees to produce certain crops or livestock under a contract with a buyer or company, usually in exchange for guaranteed prices, technical assistance, and sometimes inputs like seeds, fertilizers, or equipment.

(poultry, tomatoes, sugarbeets, etc.)

• Reduced risk

• Farmers could obtain necessary capital to expand and become more efficient by using their contract as collateral

• Problems?

• Potential to cause overproduction

• Loss of independence because the buyer established the policy

39.   What is suitcase farming?

Lived far from fields or fields were further apart. (hard to apply emergancy soil conservation efforts.) 

40.   In the Great Plains Region the advent of irrigation led to ? and ?

Increased feedlots and packing plants 

41.   How did the term ‘agribusiness’ come about?

Large companies like Shell, Dow Chemical, National Distillers & Seagram's expanded investments into land and began farming = investment asset = corporate farming

- reflected vertical integration & big-business nature of agriculture.

42.   Why did insurance companies enter California agriculture?

• Corporate farms commanded greater capital and access to credit

• Better able to meet increasing production costs and ride out hard times

• Could write off crop production losses on taxes

• Farmers got additional loans or went out of business

43.   When did Alaska and Hawaii join the Union?

1959

44.   Why was the U.S. interested in obtaining Alaska and Hawaii?

Strategic for U.S. defense as an important military outpost. Keep out of japanesse hands 

45.   When Alaska joined the U.S., which commodities were focused on to produce for a period in that climate? - What were the problems that were faced for agriculture production?

Harsh climate (cold) focused of barley and dairy 

46.   Negative Farming?

Government interested in developing barley and dairy farms and in 1978 sold 103,000 acres, provided loans to get new farmers stared

• No elevators for barley, milk was cheaper shipped from Seattle, new farmers had no clear title to land, state bought the milk to help pay farmers

• Ultimately the state foreclosed on $40 mill in loans to about 90 farmers involved in the new farms

47.   What were the main agriculture products in produced in Hawaii for many years, but are now disappearing?

Sugar cane, pineapple

48.   How did the political power for agriculture change in the last 75 years or so (since at least WW II)

Congress has been pressured for lower food prices, agribusinesses needing maximum production to lower operating costs, rural populations continue to decrease

Agriculture voice now in the minority (< 2%) – rural congressman with fewer seats need support from urban colleagues

49.   Who are the two large agriculture organizations which lobby for agriculture?  How do their viewpoints differ and which political party does each primarily represent? 

Large scale farmers, usually represented by Farm Bureau (typically Republicans) favored

• little govt. intervention and a free-market economy

• Decreased government purchase and storage of surplus ag commodities

Other farmers, usually represented by NFU (typically Democrats) favored high price supports and government intervention to achieve economic and social ends for agriculture and rural communities

50.   What was the Agriculture Act of 1956 and the two-part soil program?

•  Part 1 short term - Government could rent ground from farmers (took it out of production) called the Acreage Reserve Program

  • *Differed from previous policy in that farmers couldn’t plant withdrawn land to other crops

• Part 2 long-term – Conservation Reserve Program encouraged marginally successful farmers to leave farming - land was put in a long term conservation program (encouraged farmers to quit).

• Didn’t work, abandoned in 1959 – 

  • farmers idled poorest ground and increased production on better ground

  • Too expensive to continue

  • Urban merchants complained, farmers earned overall less money, and spent less money in town

51.   What happened in 1964 that further reduce the lobbying and political power of rural areas and farmers?

Ag policy was no longer the domain of farmers__ and their lobbying groups (in 1964 U.S. Supreme Court required congressional districts to be appointed based on population = less representation for rural areas)

52.   How have price supports changed over the last half of the 20^th century?

Mid 60s

• Price supports were established near world market levels and tied domestic prices to world prices

• Foreign production gained more influence on domestic prices

• 1% increase in production capable of triggering a 7% decline in prices

• Ag program term changed to 4 years instead of 1 year

1970s

• Congress limited farms to $55,000/year in price supports:

• Designed to help ‘family farms’ versus ‘large-scale corporations’

• Reduced to $20,000 for grain & cotton farmers in 1973 

• Called the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act

• Replaced price supports with “deficiency payments” - when prices fell below a target price

In 1981-  Reagan pushed Congress to increase ag exports & decrease price supports.

53.   What was Nixon’s Wage and Price Freeze and how did it affect agricultural products?

On Aug. 15, 1971, Nixon announced, “I am today ordering a freeze on all prices and wages throughout the United States.” 

Cattle feeders delayed marketing cattle, and the buildup of supply and price drop when the freeze was lifted in the fall of 1973 caused ‘The Wreck_______of 1973”

54.   What was ‘The Wreck’?

-- a severe crash in the cattle market and dramatic herd reduction.

55.   The 1980’s Agriculture and Food Act did what to help farmers?

In the early 1980’s, government continued to decrease price support programs, but enacted the Agriculture and Food Act which required 100 % parity__________ compensation during times of economic sanction, such as President Carter’s embargo of ag sales to Russia

• Tried to maintain farm income while reducing costs & covered 5 crop yrs

• Target prices fell closer to market demands & helped reduce government spending

• Provided acreage reductions if ag supplies became excessive

• * Again didn’t solve the problem of overproduction and low prices

56.   As horses disappeared and tractor usage took over, how did this change crop production and crop prices?

More specialization driven by the expense of tractors that were geared toward specific crops, leading to less diversification - still caused overproduction and low prices

57.   What were some downsides of using tractors?

• Expensive (loans)

• Increased overproduction and low prices 

• Less diversification of crops 

58.   Did cotton become mechanized as quickly as other crops?  Why or why not?  Which state was on the forefront of mechanized cotton harvesting?

Slower- - Wanted annual contracts with tenants for full year workers

- Many small scale farmers

• - Bolls were often low in the plants

• - Later development of defoliants

•  - Californian led all the states the mechanize cotton during the 1950’s

• * South_ didn’t completely mechanize until 1975

59.   Why did the number of cotton farmers decrease drastically in the 1970’s?

• Mechanization 

•  consolidation of small farms into larger holdings 

• Synthetic clothing 

60.   How did the loss of the Bracero program influence crop production?

*Mechanization was largely stimulated by the loss of the Bracero program

61.   Be familiar with the agriculture organizations discussed in class; NFO, Farm Workers Association/United Farm Workers of America, AAM.

National Farmers Org (NFO): 

• Intended to negotiate with food processors

• Withheld commodities

• Estimated it needed 25% of farmers in an area to control 60% of the commodity

• Focused on Midwest: corn, hogs & soybeans

• Gained the reputation for radicalism

Farm Workers Association (FMA):

• Wanted to help workers with everyday needs such as medical care, shelter, food and clothing

• Worked closely with Catholic church to provide immigration advice, citizenship classes & welfare counseling

United Farm Workers of America (FMA) 

• Helped increase wages, better working conditions, eliminated field firing & established seniority

• One of its first successful efforts was to boycott on wine andgrapes__ to force growers to meet union demands for better wages and working conditions

American Agriculture Movement (AAM) 

• Very naïve & felt the family farm was the link in the national economy

• Strike unless they received 100% parity

• Had tractorcades that drove on to Washington D.C. 

  • “Hell No We Won’t Grow”

  • Congress put a moratorium on FHA foreclosures and gave an 11% increase in price-support payments

62.   How did the populations change in the rural areas – who left and who settled there?

• Saw many seeking a college degree, but not in agriculture – why?

  • Too much work for too little gain 

• Thousands left the farm never to return

• Contrary, many in the metropolitan areas sought rural life

• Safer, slower paced, left the problems of the urban areas

• Wanted to garden, but not farm

63.   Was an agriculture degree not recommended to those heading to college?

True - Too much work for too little gain 

64.   Why did the growth of farms owned by women grow?

South women inherited the farm 

65.   How did the types of small farms change?

• The days of the small-scale poor farmer were drawing to an end, while ‘hobby-farming’ was increasing

• Farmers got more and more of their income off the farm

• “Get bigger or get out” 

66.   Why do farmers keep trying to produce more when that usually results in lower prices?

Produce enough to make money but that drives pieces lower due to increased supply

67.   In 1997, a lawsuit was filed for black farmers.  Why and what was the result?

 National Black Farmers Union filed a $2 bill lawsuit on previous complaints of driscrimmination

• Was awarded $375 million dollars

The settlement aimed to address the discrimination faced by black farmers in accessing loans and federal aid, ultimately leading to improved support for minority farmers in the agricultural sector.