Farmers face many problems such as, a corrupt monetary policy, overproduction, and differential freight rates. The complaints of the farmers are justified because with the correction of these issues the farmers would continue with successful business. Each of the problems caused the farmers to lose money and become where they could not afford to run the businesses anymore, therefore, causing even more failure within the farming occupation. Monetary policy is the largest problem for farmers due to the multiple effects presented. As shown in government data, the population is growing fast, yet the money supply is not keeping up (Doc. C). This is because of the gold standard. The gold standard resulted in the government not issuing any more money until there was more gold found to back it up. A solution for the shortage of gold out west is bimetallism. According to the Populist Party Platform, “Silver, which has been accepted as coin since the dawn of history, has been demonetized to add to the purchasing power of gold…” (Doc. A). This quote suggest that even though silver has always been accepted it is not anymore due to the gold standard, yet bimetallism would be a solution for the farmers complaints. William McKinley spoke about how the coinage of silver, as the farmers …show more content…
This occurs when farmers continue to produce crops causing deflation in the money supply. The crops were selling for basically nothing because there was so much being produced. According to Laughlin, it is the farmers fault that they are suffering (Doc. E). If they would stop producing so much they would not be in this situation, yet they would still have the issue that they aren't making any money because they aren't producing crops, there is still a shortage of money. The farmers needed someone to help regulate the larger companies so that the smaller farmers would be able to produce their crops and make money off of
From 1865 to 1900, production of crops increased, and prices dropped. (Document A) These crops were shipped east, where they were eaten and exported to other countries. This was due to technology, but government policy caused economic conditions in the west barely improved as a result. In fact, despite the success many farmers experienced, many in the west still struggled to put food on the table.
Through the AAA, Roosevelt proposed to pay farmers for cutting back on production or producing nothing at all. It was supposed to help increase farm prices by decreasing the supply. Now, the government has to deal with the existing surplus. The Roosevelt administration decided to destroy much of what had already been produced, as to create a shortage so farm prices would increase. About six million pigs were slaughtered and ten million acres of cotton were destroyed.
Through the period of 1865-1900, America’s agriculture underwent a series of changes .Changes that were a product of influential role that technology, government policy and economic conditions played. To extend on this idea, changes included the increase on exported goods, do the availability of products as well as the improved traveling system of rail roads. In the primate stages of these developing changes, farmers were able to benefit from the product, yet as time passed by, dissatisfaction grew within them. They no longer benefited from the changes (economy went bad), and therefore they no longer supported railroads. Moreover they were discontented with the approach that the government had taken towards the situation.
The period between 1870 and 1900 was a time to change politics. The country was for once free from war and was united as one nation. However, as these decades passed by, the American farmer found it harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the cash crop of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit. Improvements in transportation allowed larger competitors to sell more easily and more cheaply, making it harder for American yeoman farmers to sell their crops. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the fall of business in the 1890s devastated the farming community. Most notably, the Populist Party arose to fight what farmers saw as the issues affecting the agricultural community. During the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw railroads and banking enterprises threaten their way of life; their work to fight these elements eventually led to a change in national politics.
Even with these faults, this society appreciates the hard work of farming compared to the easy way of living today. One point of Berry’s argument is that he believes that the land is falling more and more into the hands of speculators and professional people from the cities, who, in spite of all the scientific agricultural miracles, still have more money than farmers. Big technology and large economies have caused more abandonment of land in the country than ever before. Many of the great farmers are clearly becoming different because they lack manpower and money to maintain properly. The number of part-time farmers and ex-farmers increases every year due to the problems with money and resources.
... having oversupply which would then result in prices being able to be raised on the crops, so that way farmers did not over harvest and got more for their money. Contrary to the AAA act pleasing many farmers and collectively bringing in $1,500,000,000 from 1933 to 1936 the government felt it was unconstitutional and decided dispel the law and revise it two years later, The new law set in place was centered around the original AAA, but it was felt to be more constitutional by member of the government. AAA was important because it not only was gov’t effort to help reduce over harvesting, and then not being able to sell crops this causing farmers to go broke, but it helped farmers gain more money because by producing less crops it made their retail value higher thus allowing them to earn more money and creating a more stable foundation for farmers within society.
Farmer’s had difficulties making a living because the rates of being a farmer was high. “Nothing has done more to injure the western region than these freight rates.” (Quoted from Document F) The high rates of being a farmer made it very difficult to make payments on the lands. Some farmers couldn’t even sell their produce for a reasonable profit. They worked long, hard hours and the government wasn’t on their side about paying them a decent income. Along with farm prices failing, railroad prices were increasing. Railroads were important very to farmers because they took farmers out to their lands, carried their produce to markets, and brought them the manufactured goods that they needed. Many farm settlements were made around railroads just because of this reason. Railroad managers were forced to charge very high rates and because of it, farmers would have to pay more money to use railroads.
At the same time, the local agricultural economy was experiencing a deep economic depression due to the severe droughs that had occured throughout the past decade. The loss of crops cut out the average farmers'/planters' main food source as well a...
Farmers everywhere in the United States during the late nineteenth century had valid reasons to complaint against the economy because the farmers were constantly being taken advantage of by the railroad companies and banks. All farmers faced similar problems and for one thing, farmers were starting to become a minority within the American society. In the late nineteenth century, industrialization was in the spotlight creating big businesses and capitals. The success of industrialization put agriculture and farmers on the down low, allowing the corporations to overtake the farmers. Since the government itself; such as the Republican Party was also pro-business during this time, they could have cared less about the farmers.
Our nation was founded on agriculture, and for hundreds of years we were able to migrate across the nation bringing our farming tools and techniques with us. Technology has driven populations away from rural areas towards industrialized cities. With money now being pumped into cities, rural farmers are suffering the most. Farmers are taking out large loans in order to sustain their farms, leading to debt and in some cases suicide. Patel spoke about a farmer in India whose husband took his life because he was unable to live with the amount of debt from his struggling farm. This man left his wife and chi...
Most of the reasons concerning agrarian discontent in the late nineteenth century stem from supposed threats posed by monopolies and trusts, railroads, money shortages and the demonetization of silver, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The American farmer at this time already had his fair share of problems, perhaps even perceived as unfair in regards to the success industrialized businessmen were experiencing. Nevertheless, crops such as cotton and wheat, which were once the staples of an agricultural society, were selling at such low prices that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them, especially since some had invested a great deal of money in modern equipment that would allow them to produce twice as many goods. Furthermore, improvements in transportation allowed foreign competition to emerge, making it harder for American Farmers to not only dispose of surplus crop, but to transport crops period. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the degeneration of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers, and as a result of this agricultural depression' many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline of agriculture.
Not only did companies on main street become affected by the depression so were small farmers. Dust storms destroyed crops they not only could not pay back money borrowed from banks for seeds; they...
Farmers are essentially the back-bone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production, (CSS statistics). Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits. Farmers are life-long slaves to these b...
As agriculture has become more intensive, farmers have become capable of producing higher yields using less labour and less land. Growth of the agriculture has not, however, been an unmixed blessing. It, like every other thing, has its pros and cons. Topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, continued neglect of the living and working conditions for farm labourers, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities. These are the cons of the new improved agriculture.
...or the government and private organizations always provide all the facilities or capital needed to help smallholder farmers around the world climb out of food crisis. Therefore, an effective training that designed based on the detailed local knowledge able to facilitate farmers to gain high productivity, high resilience to crisis and adequate literacy level particularly amongst the rural farmers to combat such raised issue. This is because the trained farmers will be equipping with survival skill and knowledge to handle the crises and changing factors that lower their farm product’s yields and competitive value. Further investment on smallholder farmers either by government or private sector also should be encouraged in order to transform the smallholder into commercial growers which own better production efficiency and advanced technologies than the previous one.