Which factor led to agricultural overproduction and falling farm prices during the 1920s?

During World War I farmers increased production to meet the demands for food for the fighting troops. Many farmers invested their wartime profits in more land and more machinery with the thought of growing even more crops, but such plans did more harm then good. After the war, farmers were producing more than the American people could use and the price of farm goods dropped so low that many farmers couldn’t make enough money to pay off their huge debts. Corn, which had sold for 70 cents a bushel in the early ‘20s, dropped to 10 cents a bushel. Hogs, which used to bring in nine cents, only brought in three cents per pound. Some farmers found it was cheaper to burn their corn for fuel than to haul it to market. If they couldn’t sell enough to make mortgage payments, some farmers began to sell off their belongings. New machinery, that had hardly been used, had to be auctioned off before it was even paid for. On and on it went, until many farmers had to give up the entire farm. The banks and tax collectors wanted their money, but farmers didn’t have any to give. In 1924 alone more than 2,500 farms were lost in mortgage foreclosure actions.

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(4) rising income taxes22 During the 1930s, poor land management and severe drought conditions across parts of theMidwest resulted in the

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23 The New Deal reform that helped labor unions win the right to represent workers was the

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Base your answer to question 24 on the chart below and on your knowledge of social studies.24 Which conclusion is most clearly supported by the information in the chart?(1) President Herbert Hoover’s economic policies expanded job opportunities.(2) The United States unemployment rate reached its highest level in 1938.(3) President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs failed to address theunemployment crisis.(4) World War II ended the high unemployment rates of the Great Depression.

25 As part of the New Deal, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FederalDeposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) were created to

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26 Senator Huey Long, Dr. Francis Townsend, and Father Charles Coughlin are best known as

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Abstract

Agricultural distress in the 1920s is routinely quoted among the causes of the Great Depression. This article challenges the conventional wisdom. World agriculture was not plagued by overproduction and falling terms of trade. The indebtedness of American farmers, a legacy of the boom years 1918-1921, did jeopardize the rural banks, but the relation between their crises, the banking panic of 1930, and the Great Depression is tenuous at best.

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Which factors contributed to agricultural overproduction in the 1920s?

Farmers were also badly affected by the introduction of mass production. As farmers produced more produce using their new machines the price of their crops dropped. This was caused by producing more food than was needed by the population. This surplus of food was called 'overproduction'.

Why did farm prices drop throughout the 1920s?

With heavy debts to pay and improved farming practices and equipment making it easier to work more land, farmers found it hard to reduce production. The resulting large surpluses caused farm prices to plummet. From 1919 to 1920, corn tumbled from $1.30 per bushel to forty-seven cents, a drop of more than 63 percent.

Why did overproduction occur in the 1920s?

Farmers Were Stuck With Surplus For farmers in particular, the Great Depression basically began after World War I. During that war, U.S. farmers had increased food production to feed European allies. Afterward, prices and demand dropped, and farmers were stuck with an oversupply they couldn't sell.

What happened to agriculture in the 1920s?

While most Americans enjoyed relative prosperity for most of the 1920s, the Great Depression for the American farmer really began after World War I. Much of the Roaring '20s was a continual cycle of debt for the American farmer, stemming from falling farm prices and the need to purchase expensive machinery.