Part 1 Preface ix Part 2 THE PROGRESSIVE ERA 3 Chapter 3 A regional survey. Age of prosperity. The Country Life movement. Agricultural organizations. Reformers, farmers, and the regulatory state. Agricultural education. Expansion of federal power. World War I. Part 4 THE AGE OF UNCERTAINTY 41 Chapter 5 Postwar decline. Science and technology. The Farm Bloc. The McNary-Haugen plan. The Agricultural Marketing Act. Part 6 THE NEW DEAL 67 Chapter 7 The Agricultural Adjustment Administration. The Commodity Credit Corporation. Dust Bowl. Resettlement and Farm Security. Rural electrification. The farm lobby. Part 8 PROSPERITY AND DECLINE 97 Chapter 9 World War II. Postwar problems. Science and technology. Agribusiness. Agricultural organizations. Part 10 FALLOUT 124 Chapter 11 The policy of dependency. Collapse. Embargo. Agricultural organizations. Science and technology. Part 12 CENTURY'S END 154 Chapter 13 Farm subsidies. Genetically modified crops. Agribusiness. Environmental concerns. A new agricultural policy. Part 14 A Note on Sources 175 Part 15 Index 183

The essence of Hurt's latest book n American agriculture is that farmers face the same fundamental issues the did a century ago: overproduction, low commodity prices couples with high production costs, and ineffective government intervention that often encourages rather than discourages overproduction. To the casual reader this may appear somewhat surprising when one considers the enormous technological and demographic shifts during the 10th century. However, as Hurt carefully details, agricultural policy continues to be partially based on a concept of rural life that had largely disappeared by the beginning of the 20th century. . . . Hurt has produced a very solid, readable history which should be useful for collections in general agriculture, agricultural economies and history, or rural sociology.