Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936
Other short titles | Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act act |
---|---|
Long title | An Act to promote the conservation and profitable use of agricultural land resources by temporary Federal aid to farmers and by providing for a permanent policy of Federal aid to States for such purposes. |
Enacted by | the 74th United States Congress |
Effective | February 29, 1936 |
Citations | |
Public law | Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 74–461 |
Statutes at Large | 49 Stat. 1148 |
Legislative history | |
|
The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 74–461, enacted February 29, 1936) is a United States federal law that allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce production so as to conserve soil and prevent erosion.
Legislative history
The Act was passed in response to the Supreme Court's declaration that the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was unconstitutional.[1] These two acts were passed as legislation in an attempt to cut crop and livestock surplus.[1] Originally, Congress enacted the Soil Conservation Act of 1935 Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 74–46, 49 Stat. 163 on April 27, 1935 in an attempt to address farm erosion problems by bringing within its policy and purposes, the improvements and preservation of national soil resources.[2] During the second session of the 74th Congress, the U.S. Congressional session amended the Soil Conservation Act of 1935 by passing Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 74–461 and renaming the legislation the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act with the express purpose of encouraging the use of soil resources in such a manner as to preserve and improve fertility, promote economic use, and diminish the exploitation and unprofitable use of the national soil resources.[3] Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Act into law on February 29, 1936.[4]
Provisions
It meant to help with some of the problems with the previous Act, most notably its failure to protect sharecroppers and tenant farmers. Landlords were now required to share the payments they received from the government for cutting back production with those who worked on their land.
The Act also gave directives to conserve the soil in the "high plains"—soil that was being raised into huge dust bowls during the 1930s. This period, known as the Dust Bowl, coupled with the economic hardships of the Great Depression, hit farmers particularly hard. The act attempted to correct earlier government policy that encouraged farmers to use their land without concern to the repercussions. The result of these agricultural methods (mostly the way farmers plowed their land) made it vulnerable to the winds. The dry ground, now exposed, rose up to create the "black storms".
The Act both educated farmers on how to use their lands without damaging them, and took immediate action to contain the dust bowl's effects—notably by planting trees and native grass.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Agricultural Adjustment Administration". Handbook of Texas Online - Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
- ^ Roosevelt, Franklin D. (February 26, 1937). "The President Urges the Adoption by All the States of a Uniform Soil Conservation Law - February 26, 1937". University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service. pp. 102–104.
- ^ S.rp.1481, 'Conservation and Utilization of the Soil Resources' Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. Senate, January 16, 1936.
- ^ Roosevelt, Franklin D. (March 1, 1936). "A Presidential Statement on Signing the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act - March 1, 1936". Internet Archive. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service. pp. 95–102.
Further reading
- Brinkley, Alan (1999). American History: A Survey, Tenth Edition. McGraw-Hill College. ISBN 0-07-303390-1.
- v
- t
- e
- Federal Farm Loan Act (1916)
- Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933)
- Agricultural Adjustment Act Amendment of 1935
- Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936
- Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938
- Agricultural Act of 1948
- Agricultural Act of 1949
- Agricultural Act of 1954
- Agricultural Act of 1956
- Agricultural Act of 1961
- Food and Agriculture Act of 1965
- Agricultural Act of 1970
- Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973
- Food and Agriculture Act of 1977
- Agriculture and Food Act of 1981
- Food Security Act of 1985
- Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990
- Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996
- Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002
- Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
- Agricultural Act of 2014
- Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
agricultural
legislation
- Hatch Act of 1887
- Agricultural Experiment Stations Act of 1887
- Agriculture Appropriation Act of 1905
- Agricultural Appropriations Act of 1922
- Cotton Futures Act (1914)
- Cotton Futures Act (1916)
- Grain Standards Act (1916)
- Wheat Price Guarantee Act (1919)
- Future Trading Act (1921)
- Grain Futures Act (1922)
- Capper–Volstead Act (1922)
- Agricultural Marketing Act (1929)
- Farm Credit Act of 1933
- Frazier–Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act (1934)
- Bankhead–Jones Act of 1935
- Commodity Exchange Act (1936)
- Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (1937)
- Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937
- Federal Seed Act of 1939
- Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954
- National Wool Act of 1954
- Federal Plant Pest Act of 1957
- Agricultural Fair Practices Act of 1967
- Farm Credit Act of 1971
- Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act of 1974
- Agricultural Trade Act of 1978
- Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1980
- National Aquaculture Act of 1980
- Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act of 1983
- Extra-Long Staple Cotton Act of 1983
- Agricultural Credit Act of 1987
- Hunger Prevention Act of 1988
- Alien Species Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1992
- National Wool Act Amendments of 1993
- Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994
- Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998
- Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000