Federal Farm Board facts for kids

The Federal Farm Board was an important group created in the United States to help farmers. It was set up in 1929, just before the difficult time known as the Great Depression. Its main goal was to help farmers get fair prices for their crops and sell their products.

What Was the Federal Farm Board?

The Federal Farm Board was an agency of the U.S. government. It was created by a law called the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929. This new board actually grew out of an older one, the Federal Farm Loan Board, which started in 1916.

Why Was It Created?

In the years leading up to the Great Depression, farmers were having a tough time. The prices for their crops, like grain and cotton, were falling very low. This meant farmers weren't making enough money to live.

President Herbert Hoover wanted to help. The Federal Farm Board was part of his plan to fix these problems. It aimed to bring stability to farm prices.

How Did It Help Farmers?

The board had a special fund of $500 million. This was a lot of money back then! They used this money to buy extra grain and cotton from farmers.

By buying these "surplus" (extra) crops, the board could store them. This helped to keep too many crops from flooding the market. When there wasn't too much supply, prices wouldn't drop as much, which helped farmers earn more.

What Happened to the Board?

The Federal Farm Board didn't last very long in its original form. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a change. An official order, called Executive Order 6084, renamed the board.

It became the Farm Credit Administration. Many of its original duties were changed or ended. The way it was run also changed, with the Chairman's title becoming "Governor."

The Federal Farm Board was an early effort by the government to support farmers. It tried to solve big economic problems during a very challenging time in American history.