The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act , enacted February 29, 1936) is a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as ...

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 A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

's declaration that the

Agricultural Adjustment Act The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a United States federal law of the New Deal era designed to boost agricultural prices by reducing surpluses. The government bought livestock for slaughter and paid farmers subsidies not to plant on par ...

(AAA) was unconstitutional. These two acts were passed as legislation in an attempt to cut crop and livestock surplus. Originally, Congress enacted the Soil Conservation Act of 1935 , 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. During the second session of the 74th Congress, the U.S. Congressional session amended the Soil Conservation Act of 1935 by passing 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.S.rp.1481, 'Conservation and Utilization of the Soil Resources' Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. Senate, January 16, 1936. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Act into law on February 29, 1936.

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 The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...

, coupled with the economic hardships of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, 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.

Legislative history

Provisions

See also

References

Further reading