Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Agricultural Adjustment Act
The United States Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) (P.L. 73-10
of May 12, 1933) restricted production during the New Deal by
paying farmers to reduce crop area. Its purpose was to reduce
crop surplus so as to effectively raise the value of crops,
thereby giving farmers relative stability again. The farmers
were paid subsidies by the federal government for leaving some
of their land idle. By the time the AAA began its operations,
the agricultural season was already under way. In effect, the
agency oversaw a large-scale destruction of existing crops and
livestock in an attempt to reduce surpluses. For example, six
million pigs and 220,000 sows were slaughtered in the AAA's
effort to raise prices. Even some cotton farmers plowed under a
quarter of their crop in accordance with the AAA's plans
(Brinkley, 1999 "p. 879"). Due to the nature of the Great
Depression, many United States citizens saw the AAA as cruel:
while they were often hungering, the fed