The role of the government during the dust bowl
The Federal government tried to alleviate the problems of the Dust Bowl with the help of new farming techniques and direct aid. The government sponsored and offered many techniques and tools to try new forms of farming to help mitigate the effects. FDR created several work programs to help those who were out of work, and often direct relief was offered.
This image by Dorothea Lange in Calipatria, California shows a crowd of diverse individuals waiting for the relief office to open and start distributing relief checks. Though taken in CA many of those on relief were migrant farmers. This photograph not only shows how direct aid was distributed but it also reveals that the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression affected a wide range of people. Men and women, blacks and whites all stand amongst the crowd. All are in desperate need of help to support themselves and their families. These are just some of the people that accept and support government relief.
Letters from Caroline Henderson
“The proposition was that, in order to encourage the immediate listing abandoned wheat ground and other acreage so as to cut down wind erosion the Federal Government would contribute ten cents per acre toward the expense of fuel and oil for tractors feed for horses, if the farmers would agree to list not less than one fourth the acreage on contour lines. Surveys were made promptly for all farmers signing contracts for either contour listing or terracing.”
Caroline Henderson and her husband have been farmers in Oklahoma for 28 years. They fight desperately to hold onto their farm and survive the Dust Bowl. The letters Caroline writes to her friend, gives insight and first hand experiences of the Dust Bowl. Caroline writes about some of the attempts the government makes to alleviate some of the Dust Bowl issues. The Federal Government recommends and supports the abandoning of wheat crops and terracing or contouring their land to cut down the wind erosion. If farmers signed a contract with the government they would get ten cents for every acre the agreed to terrace to go toward fuel for tractors and feed for horses. This program terraced almost a hundred thousand acres. Caroline's letters reveals one way the government attempted to directly help farmers affected by the Dust Bowl.
“The proposition was that, in order to encourage the immediate listing abandoned wheat ground and other acreage so as to cut down wind erosion the Federal Government would contribute ten cents per acre toward the expense of fuel and oil for tractors feed for horses, if the farmers would agree to list not less than one fourth the acreage on contour lines. Surveys were made promptly for all farmers signing contracts for either contour listing or terracing.”
Caroline Henderson and her husband have been farmers in Oklahoma for 28 years. They fight desperately to hold onto their farm and survive the Dust Bowl. The letters Caroline writes to her friend, gives insight and first hand experiences of the Dust Bowl. Caroline writes about some of the attempts the government makes to alleviate some of the Dust Bowl issues. The Federal Government recommends and supports the abandoning of wheat crops and terracing or contouring their land to cut down the wind erosion. If farmers signed a contract with the government they would get ten cents for every acre the agreed to terrace to go toward fuel for tractors and feed for horses. This program terraced almost a hundred thousand acres. Caroline's letters reveals one way the government attempted to directly help farmers affected by the Dust Bowl.
Photo by Russel Lee was taken in Taylor, Texas in April of 1939. This sign was put up by the government to inform the public of the dangers of continuing traditional farming methods. It’s appears to be used almost as a scare tactic to get farmers to terrace or contour their land. It has a huge, bolded number which may not have any factual bearing. Also in the picture is a glimpse of the sign behind it wanting people to use the “Member Taylor Soil Conservation Association” with its complete equipment to terrace their land. These signs in this image offer no proof of terracing being effective, but the government believes it does and so they strongly advertise it.
JR Davis
“They came out with a lot of these methods, but most of these old-timers wouldn’t do it. You know, finally they got where they’ad pay'em. You know, you could make a dollar an acre if you practiced one of these methods. And that got a lot of 'em workin’ on it because they needed that dollar an acre.”
The government attempted many approaches to try and mitigate the Dust Bowl. JR Davis, a farmer from Texhoma, Oklahoma gives personal insight of how the government tried to entice farmers to switch methods. This story from Davis speaks of the resistance initially and then how the money was the convincing factor. This is just a specific instance of how the government tried to directly help people and help save the land. Money was a very convincing factor.
“They came out with a lot of these methods, but most of these old-timers wouldn’t do it. You know, finally they got where they’ad pay'em. You know, you could make a dollar an acre if you practiced one of these methods. And that got a lot of 'em workin’ on it because they needed that dollar an acre.”
The government attempted many approaches to try and mitigate the Dust Bowl. JR Davis, a farmer from Texhoma, Oklahoma gives personal insight of how the government tried to entice farmers to switch methods. This story from Davis speaks of the resistance initially and then how the money was the convincing factor. This is just a specific instance of how the government tried to directly help people and help save the land. Money was a very convincing factor.