American Agricultural Economy in the 1920s-1940 1523590 210373919 2008-05-05T17:57:37Z 67.142.130.34 /* New Deal */ ==World War I== The [[United States of America]], in [[World War I]], was a great supplier to other [[Allies|Allied nations]] of [[armaments]], supplies, and [[food]]. The American [[farmer]] took advantage of this opportunity to expand their [[farm]]s to meet the ever growing demand for their crops. What is now known as the [[Midwest]] is where many of the new and expanding farms converted "[[grazing]]" land over to farm land. The rapid expansion of the farms coupled with the invention of the [[automobile]], which allowed for rapid transportation of crops, allowed the agricultural market to expand to an unprecedented size. However, with the [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|armistice]] that ended the World War I and began the rebuilding of [[Europe]], the market for American agricultural goods shrank. Farmers and economists alike had not foreseen the drop in demand for American goods. The abundant harvest coupled with falling demand left an excess of crops and not enough [[profit]] to pay for expenditures. This downturn was only very brief, as was the entire [[Post-WWI recession|post World War I recession]] in North America. ==1920s== The early 1920s saw a rapid expansion in the American agricultural economy largely due to new technologies and especially mechanization. Competition from Europe and Russia had disappeared due to the war and American agricultural goods were being shipped around the world. The American farmers' luck took a turn for the worse beginning in the mid-1920s. The rapidly increasing agricultural production lead to a glut and prices stagnated. Things got far worse in the 1930s as a collapse of the general economy hit farmers especially hard. The [[drought]]s came, creating what is known as the [[Dust Bowl]]. The expansion of farm lands into lands previously used for grazing (sluts) depleted the nutrients from the soil, and high winds intensified drought conditions with [[dust storm]]s, leading to soil [[erosion]]. The new technologies, such as the [[combine harvester]], meant that the most efficient farms were massive in size and, gradually, the small family farm that had long been the model were replaced by far larger concerns. == New Deal == One of the main goals of the [[New Deal]] was to revive the agricultural sector of the economy. In 1933, the federal government created the [[Agricultural Adjustment Administration]] (AAA), which coordinated with farmers across America in maximizing crop profits with minimum crop yields. The AAA was responsible for the creation of farm subsidies and [[loan]]s. The first AAA was declared [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]] and a new AAA was set up in 1939. It was not until [[World War II]] that America completely recovered from the [[Great Depression]] and the agricultural economy was completely revived. == See also == * [[Agricultural policy]] * [[Economics]] * [[Supply and demand]] * [[Food distribution]] * [[Economic surplus]] * ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' == References == * [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0802770.html Agricultural Adjustment Administration] at InfoPlease. [[Category:Economic history of the United States]] [[Category:Great Depression in the United States]]