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Pricing
The Dirty Thirties
Main
Black Blizzards Begin
1931
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Severe drought hits the Midwestern and Southern Plains. Dust from the over-plowed and overgrazed plains begin to blow
Dust Storms Increase
1932
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Dust storms increased to 14 this year. The winds and frequency are getting more harsh.
Storm Toll Reaches 38
1933
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The storm toll doubles and reaches 38, being the highest amount of storms ever in one year.
Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Takes Office
March 4,1933
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F.D.R. takes office in the midst of harsh dust. He declares a four-day holiday for banks so that Congress could form the Emergency Bank Act of 1933. The EBA helped the restore the federal governments efficiency of restoring the financial economy that was hurt due to the dust bowl.
Emergency Farm Mortgage
May 12, 1933
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EFM was made to fund farmers whom were close to facing foreclosure and were in desperate need of financial aid.
The Civilian Conservation: Corps Soil Erosion Camps
June 18, 1933
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The Civilian Conservation Corps found a soil erosion camp in Alabama. There are 161 by the end of the year.
Pig Slaughter!!!
September 1933
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6 million pigs were slaughtered to stabilize meat prices. Apples, beans, canned beef, flour and pork products were given out to the needy. Cotton goods are used to clothe the poor too.
Injury and Industry Strike
October 4, 1933 - October 28, 1933
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Farmers fled the San Joaquin Valley of California after a strike begins for 24 days. Though only three were killed, hundreds were injured and workers were given a 25% pay raise for pain and suffering.
Dust Expands
May 1934
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The Dust Bowl boundaries are becoming larger, making this the worst year in the history of the Dust Bowl. It covers more than 3/4 of the nation and harshly affects 27 states.
Double Acts
June 28, 1934 - 1947
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The Taylor Grazing Act is signed, meaning that 140 million acres of federal land will be used toward helping farmers with soil erosion control.
The Frazier-Lemke Farm Bankruptcy Act is approved, meaning that no bank can reject or dispossess farmers whom are in great financial need, and is renewed up until 1947.
Government Cattle
January 15, 1935
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The Drought Relief service allows the government to take healthy cows away from farmers for $14 to $20 a head. It really did relieve the farmers that couldn't pay for their cattle. Some cattle was given as food supply to the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation to be used in food distribution to families.
Black Sunday
April 14, 1935
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The worst dust storm of the Dust Bowl occurred, causing the greatest damage yet.
Soil: the Natural Menace
April 27 1935
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Congress declares soil as a "natural menace." They start the Soil Conservation Service, giving them the job of doing the farmers' landscaping and taking control of the dust. Farmers whom did this work were paid for it.
Dust By Numbers
December 1935
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At a meeting in Colorado, it was estimated that 850,000,000 tons of topsoil had blown from the Southern Plains, which would make the dust bowl larger if something wasn't done.
The SCS Soil Law
May 1936
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The SCS soil law, if passed by the states, would be applied to all farmers and would improve erosion and put a halt to why the dust began.
Roosevelt's Inaugural Address
January 20, 1937
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“I see one-third of the nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished… the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
Roosevelt's Shelterbelt Project
March 1937
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FDR encourages for people to plant trees to block the wind. The project would take $75 million over the course of 12 years, so FDR transferred the project to the WPA, where there was limited success.
65% Closer to Relief
1938
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The soil is re-turned and re-plowed into furrows, reducing storms to only 65% of what they used to be, but there was still a drought.
An End to It All
1939
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The rain put an end to the drought in 1939. When WWII came, along with the Great Depression, it actually improved the mood of the farming situation. The wheat, once again, was turning to its original golden color.