Soil Bank Act of 1956
The Soil Bank Act of 1956 was a significant piece of legislation aimed at addressing agricultural and environmental challenges in the United States. In the wake of the Dust Bowl and subsequent food surpluses post-World War II, the act sought to mitigate the economic hardships faced by farmers and promote soil conservation. It operated on two main principles: economically reducing crop surpluses by paying farmers not to cultivate certain crops, and promoting land conservation by converting cropland into alternative uses, such as pastures and forests.
Farmers participating in the program received compensation for the land they took out of production, contributing to a substantial decrease in the amount of land farmed. Despite its intentions, the Soil Bank Act faced criticism for its high costs and the disruption it caused within farming communities. Many farmers intensified their cultivation on non-participating fields, which counteracted some of the act's goals. Although the acreage reserve program was eventually suspended in 1959, it laid the groundwork for future conservation initiatives in the U.S. agriculture policy landscape, highlighting the complexities of balancing economic needs with environmental stewardship.
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Soil Bank Act of 1956
Identification Legislation for voluntary land-retirement program that was part of the U.S. Federal Agricultural Act of 1956
Date Signed into law in 1956
By setting up acreage reserves and conservation reserves, the Soil Bank Act became a model for later farm conservation measures.
The Soil Bank Act was an attempt to protect U.S. cropland. In response to the Dust Bowl, the federal government enacted several soil conservation policies during the 1930’s, which included the purchase of land to be retired from agricultural use. However, World War II undermined the restrictions on farming, as American farmers responded to global food demand, higher profits, and improvements in technology. As a result, by the 1950’s, large surpluses of food imposed economic hardships on farmers, while at the same time, the problems of land degradation resurfaced. Congress reacted by passing the Soil Bank Act.
The act had two purposes. Its economic purpose was to reduce the surplus of food by eliminating cropland from tillage. The government paid farmers not to grow certain crops, including wheat, cotton, corn, tobacco, and peanuts. In theory, crop prices would then rise and thereby increase farm profits. The unfarmed land was therefore placed in a “soil bank,” to be used again when demand increased.
The second purpose of the Soil Bank Act was conservation. The act aimed to convert some or all of a farmer’s cropland into other uses, such as pastures. Contracts for conservation lasted from three to ten years and involved a reward for signing into the program and penalties for breaking contracts—the so-called cross-compliance system.
Impact
The acreage reserve program existed from 1956 to 1958. For crops not grown, farmers in the program received $.90 for a bushel of corn, $1.20 for a bushel of wheat, and $.15 for a pound of cotton, the totals computed using average yields per acre. Thus, for example, by 1958, 29 percent of the land used to cultivate cotton in 1956 had been diverted.
During the four years of the existence of the conservation reserve, the Soil Bank Act removed 28.7 million acres from crop production—about 6 percent of plowed land—from a total of 306,000 farms. Prices ranged from $10 to $15 per acre. In some areas, grass replaced crops, while 2.2 million acres were planted with trees, 1.9 million of which were in twelve southern states.
As an economic measure, the Soil Bank Act failed for a number of reasons. First, it was disruptive to farm communities because the placement of entire farms into the soil bank, particularly in less productive areas, resulted in lost business for local suppliers of farm equipment. Second, public objections to payments for not producing crops arose. Third, the program proved to be very expensive, with costs of around $300 million a year. Moreover, the goal of reducing production of crops failed as farmers farmed nonbanked fields more intensively. For example, while wheat production dipped slightly in 1957, it rose substantially the following year. Finally, the land put out of use was often unproductive and prone to erosion in the first place.
Subsequent Events
The acreage reserve program was suspended in 1959. After 1960, no new land was added to the conservation reserve and the last contract expired in 1970. However, new conservation programs came into existence: the Cropland Conservation Program (1962) and the Cropland Adjustment Program (1965). The Conservation Reserve Program was enacted in 1985 and limited the number of acres per county that could be retired.
Bibliography
Knutson, R. D., J. B. Penn, and B. L. Flinchbaugh. Agricultural and Food Policy. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1998. A textbook that discusses historical issues related to the Soil Bank Act.
Opie, John. The Law of the Land. Two Hundred Years of American Farmland Policy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987. A history of the impact of government regulations on the small farmer.