Farmer's Holiday Association
Encyclopedia
The Farmers' Holiday Association was a movement of Midwestern United States
farmers who, during the Great Depression
, endorsed the withholding of farm products from the market, in essence creating a farmers' strike
. The Farmers' Holiday Association was organized in May 1932 by Milo Reno. The group urged farmers to declare a "holiday" from farming, with a slogan of "Stay at Home-Buy Nothing-Sell Nothing" and "Lets call a Farmer's Holiday, a Holiday let's hold. We'll eat our wheat and ham and eggs, And let them eat their gold."
Farmers went to extreme measures to ensure that their wants were carried through. One person was killed when the farmers began to blockade roads, and other farmers rallied to destroy their crops, reducing supply, and raising prices. Iowa
farmers once used a torpedo to halt a train carrying livestock into into the state. The highways into Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa
, were blocked by pickets who dumped farm produce on the side of the road. At Le Mars, Iowa some farmers dragged a judge out of his courtroom, placed a noose around his neck, and threatened to hang him unless he stopped approving farm foreclosure
s. The striking farmers were countered by sheriffs, militia, and vigilante groups.
Farmers' Holiday Association activity subsided by 1934.
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
farmers who, during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, endorsed the withholding of farm products from the market, in essence creating a farmers' strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. The Farmers' Holiday Association was organized in May 1932 by Milo Reno. The group urged farmers to declare a "holiday" from farming, with a slogan of "Stay at Home-Buy Nothing-Sell Nothing" and "Lets call a Farmer's Holiday, a Holiday let's hold. We'll eat our wheat and ham and eggs, And let them eat their gold."
Farmers went to extreme measures to ensure that their wants were carried through. One person was killed when the farmers began to blockade roads, and other farmers rallied to destroy their crops, reducing supply, and raising prices. Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
farmers once used a torpedo to halt a train carrying livestock into into the state. The highways into Sioux City and Council Bluffs, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, were blocked by pickets who dumped farm produce on the side of the road. At Le Mars, Iowa some farmers dragged a judge out of his courtroom, placed a noose around his neck, and threatened to hang him unless he stopped approving farm foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
s. The striking farmers were countered by sheriffs, militia, and vigilante groups.
Farmers' Holiday Association activity subsided by 1934.
Further reading
- Luoma, Everett E.: Farmer Takes A Holiday. Exposition Press, 1967.
- Stock, Catherine McNichol: Rural Radicals: Righteous Rage in the American Grain. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996.
- Corcoran, James: Bitter Harvest, Gordon Kahl and the Posse Comitatus: Murder in the Heartland. New York: Penguin, 1990.