Agricultural Adjustment Act

Agricultural Adjustment Act

Other short titles	Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 The Farm Relief Bill
Long title	An Act to relieve the existing national economic emergency by increasing agricultural purchasing power, to raise revenue for extraordinary expenses incurred by reason of such emergency, to provide emergency relief with respect to agricultural indebtedness, to provide for the orderly liquidation of joint-stock land banks, and for other purposes.
Enacted by	the 73rd United States Congress
Effective	May 12, 1933
Citations
Public law	73-10
Statutes at Large	48 Stat. 31
Codification
Titles amended	7 U.S.C.: Agriculture
U.S.C. sections created	7 U.S.C. ch. 26 § 601 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 3835 Passed the House on March 22, 1933 (315-98) Passed the Senate on April 28, 1933 (64-20) Reported by the joint conference committee on May 10, 1933; agreed to by the House on May 10, 1933 (passed) and by the Senate on May 10, 1933 (53-28) Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 12, 1933
United States Supreme Court cases
United States v. Butler

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a United States federal law of the New Deal era which reduced agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant on part of their land and to kill off excess . Its purpose was to reduce crop surplus and therefore effectively raise the value of crops. The money for these subsidies was generated through an exclusive tax on companies which processed farm products. The Act created a new agency, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to oversee the distribution of the subsidies. The Agriculture Marketing Act, which established the Federal Farm Board in 1929, was seen as a strong precursor to this act.

The law, in its entirety, can be read here.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression. "Farmers faced the most severe economic situation and lowest agricultural prices since the 1890s." "Overproduction and a shrinking international market had driven down agricultural prices." Soon after his inauguration, Roosevelt called the Hundred Days Congress into session to address the crumbling economy. From this Congress came the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to replace the Federal Farm Board. The Roosevelt Administration was tasked with decreasing agricultural surpluses. Wheat, cotton, field corn, hogs, rice, tobacco, and milk and its products were designated as basic commodities in the original legislation. Subsequent amendments in 1934 and 1935 expanded the list of basic commodities to include rye, flax, barley, grain sorghum, cattle, peanuts, sugar beets, sugar cane, and potatoes. The Administration targeted these commodities for the following reasons:

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