Overproduction In Agriculture During The Gilded Age

Farmers had to deal with overproduction. More and more crops were put in the market. Unfortunately, this deflated the prices farmers could demand for their goods. Farmers were growing several crops and were not making any money. If someone compared cotton production and the values during the Gilded Age, they would see the issues the farmers have. Another way farmers responded to industrialization was sharecropping. Sharecropping is an agricultural system where a landowner agrees to let a resident use the land in return for a portion of the crops made on their section of land. So that means when the crop was harvested it was all going to the property-owner because of the right to farm on the land and to the merchant for food. While several sharecroppers were using the crop-lien system finished the year out by owing money to the credit merchant. …show more content…
They were obliged to continue using the crop-lien system the next year to pay off the money that was owed. Unfortunately, farmers without any land continued to owe money. The system cause damaged since the credit merchant could command the crop that was grown by farmers he gave credit to. In the South, cotton was non-perishable. This meant that cotton could be sold anywhere at any price. This made the problem of overproduction intensify and decreased the value of cotton. (Agricultural Problems and Gilded Age Politics 1). However, the farmers planned to recover from their condition by making several organizations. One of these organizations was called, “the National Farmers’ Alliance” (McCarty 1). The National Farmers’ Alliance helped draw in new settlers, brought in innovative railroad lines, and boosted the price of farmland. However, while the land’s progress failed, the Farmers' Alliance pursued to free distraught farmers through promotion companies, government guideline, and money improvement (Postel