Buy A Foreclosed


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Buy A Foreclosed

Buy A Foreclosed

In May 1932, with farm prices and income falling, 2,000 farmers gathered on the state fairgrounds in Des Moines, IA to form the Farmers' Holiday Association. Its aim was to organize a farmers' strike- its slogan: "Stay at Home, Buy Nothing, Sell Nothing." Hopefully, this would motivate the federal government to act on its demands: guaranteed costs of production for farm products, mortgage relief, and inflation.

Milo Reno

FHA members hardly stayed home. In February 1933, several hundred farmers surrounded the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines, demanding a halt to farm foreclosures. Iowa legislators got the message, passing a moratorium on farm foreclosures, which was signed by Governor Clyde Herring. Leading this demonstration, as well as the FHA, was Milo Reno, a fiery populist orator in the William Jennings Bryan mold, according to historian David Kennedy.

In Washington D.C., the new administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt took over in March, which included Iowan Henry A. Wallace as Secretary of Agriculture. Both were aware of the unrest on the farm and were working on passing the Agricultural Adjustment Act. This contained the domestic allotment plan, which paid farmers to reduce output and therefore raise commodity prices. The AAA would also have farm mortgage relief and general inflationary measures.