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Brought widespread improvements to farmers. Dams supplied irrigation water to dry lands and scientists introduced farmers to new crops like nectarines and broccoli. -
Foreign demand for America’s food surplus increased and Europe became America’s largest customer. In 1906 Congress passed the Pure Food Drug Act. This legislation required the USDA to inspect the cleanliness of agricultural goods. Higher standards for production improved foreign trade and benefited ordinary Americans by providing improved food quality. -
As the new century dawned, machines had drastically reduced the amount of 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. -
With war looming on the horizon and an 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. -
The US Food Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture urged American farmers and ranchers to step up production to meet increased demand at home and abroad. Agricultural exports soared and farm prices more than doubled. This boom renewed business interest in farming, and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson signed the Farm Credit Loan Act to provide long-term loans to farmers. -
The Women's Land Army of America (WLAA) was created in 1918 from a need for food production during World War I. 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 had quadrupled since the US entered WWI, leading to food riots in New York City and Philadelphia. -
Despite recent wartime plenty, during the 1920s 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. -
The wartime market disappeared and created a surplus of products and plummeting prices. A nationwide agricultural depression set in. -
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 than 25 percent in a single year. As the depression continued, prices for almost all agricultural products dropped even further. -
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; reduced a billion dollars a year during the early 1930s. It was almost more than America could bear.