Changes Abound  1920 - 1959

California, 1920: A growing agricultural industry, connected to the rest of the U.S. by railroad tracks. There were more than 115,000 farms spread across the state, with 29.4 million acres of farmland in total. Fruit production in particular was highly successful throughout the decade, as apples, peaches, pear, and plums were all highly successful crops. 

While the rest of the country enjoyed the “Roaring Twenties” and the stock market boomed, farmers experienced continual cycles of debt, specifically due to falling product prices. In addition, the process of transitioning from animal labor (horses and mules) to machines was costly and contributed to farmers’ financial woes.

US Farm Census

In 1919, the California Legislature created the Department of Food and Agriculture, responsible for protecting and promoting agriculture. Today’s California Department of Food and Agriculture now has five separate divisions that provide services to producers, sellers, and the public.

California Department of Food and Agriculture

The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was enacted to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment—prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States. These policies challenged California’s booming wine industry. In 1919, there were approximately 700 wineries operating in the state and 300,000 acres of wine grapes in production. The fourteen years of Prohibition would cause a sharp decline in the number of California wineries, leaving just 388 left in operation. 

Those 388 wineries survived thanks to a combination of transportation loopholes, and religious exceptions, along with bootlegging. A legal loophole at the beginning of Prohibition provided a transportation loophole, wherein the wine grapes could be transported to other U.S. states for home wine making processes via railroad. While these grapes were of lower quality and produced subpar wine, this option allowed wine grape producers a source of income. 

Other wineries turned to producing sacramental wines, used for religious purposes, to avoid the legal restrictions on winemaking and transportation of wines. Still others would continue to operate and rely on bootleggers to transport their wines and keep them in business.

A. Borg, "A short history on wine making in California," UC Davis Library, 2016

California farm laborers participated in strikes throughout the 1930s to demonstrate the need for better pay and working conditions. As the Great Depression continued, agricultural workers felt the strain of low wages in combination with the high price of living. Striker Augstine Ramos remembers the following: "In those days only the poor people worked for the farmers, the big shots. They were getting paid very low wages—people couldn't make a living any more. That prompted people; as small as they were, as unorganized as they were, they had something in common. They got together and went on strike." 

Below are summaries of some of the agricultural strikes in California during 1933: 

• El Monte Fruit Berry Strike: In May, a strike was called by the approximately 600 Mexican berry pickers employed by Japanese growers in the San Gabriel Valley. The Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU) organized workers and presented demands for higher, more consistent wages. By June, the strike had grown to include other agricultural camps, including vegetable farms, and approximately 7,000 workers. The union settled with the growers in mid-July for increases of twenty-five cents for men and twenty cents for women. But because most of the crop had already been picked by scab (temporary, non-unionized) labor, the majority of the workers were unable to benefit from the settlement.

• Santa Clara County Cherry Strike: In June, the CAWIU organized a total of 1,000 cherry pickers across 20 ranches in Santa Clara County and presented demands for higher pay. By the middle of June, many of the major growers gave into the demands of the picketers, as the fear of losing their crops was apparent. The hourly wage of workers was successfully increased from 20 cents per hour to 30 cents per hour.

• San Joaquin Valley Cotton Strikes: In the month of October, California’s Central Valley was rocked by a labor strike that paralyzed cotton farming operations in several counties. The conflict involved 12,000-19,000 workers, held up harvesting for almost four weeks, and threatened to impede the harvesting of the state’s cotton crop which was valued at more than $50 million. The strike was instituted because the cotton growers rejected the workers’ demands for an increase in wages from sixty cents to $1.00 per hundred pounds. Although the union finally settled for a lower pay rate of seventy-five cents, the strike was considered a victory for the workers. This strike would go down in history as the largest strike in the history of American agriculture.

All told, more than 47,500 farmworkers participated in the 1933 strikes. Twenty-four of these strikes, involving approximately 37,500 workers, were under the leadership of the CAWIU. Twenty of the CAWIU-led strikes resulted in partial wage increases while only four strikes ended in total defeat for the union.

Quote: Melquiades Fernandez, "Bittersweet Fruit: El Monte's Berry Strike of 1933," April 7, 2015, KCET.org ; Strike Information: Kate Bronfenbrenner, "California Farmworkers' Strikes of 1933," in R.L. Filippelli's Labor Conflict in the United States: An E

The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also called the Wagner Act, is a U.S. labor law guaranteeing the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and take collective action (like organizing a strike). However, this act had several exclusions, including government workers, railway and airline industry employees, domestic workers, independent contractors, and farm workers. The exclusion of farm workers was a source of ongoing conflict between farmers and their employees as laborers tried to obtain better pay and working conditions.

The Social Security Act of 1935, a law “which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age,” also excluded both agricultural and domestic workers.

"National Labor Relations Act" from the National Labor Relations Board ; Quote: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message of the President to Congress, June 8, 1934, U.S. Social Security Administration

Beginning in the early 1930s, labor moved toward the cities. In response, farmers and producers increasingly hired immigrant or migrant workers. Farmers, seeking ways to increase profits and limit costs, offered less pay and lackluster conditions to these workers. In response, farmworkers followed the example of factory workers in the cities and began to unionize. 

Unions provided the option to bargain as a collective and often resulted in better pay and conditions. Farmworkers unions generally sought better wages and improved working conditions, including portable field toilets, cold drinking water, and compensation for workers injured on the job. 

By today’s standards, these all appear to be reasonable requests, but legal protections for workers were lacking and often not enforced, especially in rural farming areas. When farmers and corporations refused to grant these requests, some agricultural workers would strike and refuse to work.

California State Archives

The 1940s were significant for many reasons, including the massive number of inventions and innovations that came out of increased demands and strains on the US because of WWII. Included in these inventions and innovations were different tanks, pumps, and machinery that were repurposed by dairy farmers to create more efficient and productive ways to milk their cattle. 

The first commercial automated milking system was sold in 1948 and could not have come at a better time—selective breeding practices had increased milk productivity rates in dairy cattle and farmers were having a hard time keeping up. Instead of milking by hand and bottling the milk themselves, farmers used automatic pumps and stainless steel tanks to store the milk.

"Landmarks in the US Dairy Industry", USDA Report

Immigrant farm workers did the bulk of farm work in California during the early 20th century. A large number of these immigrant workers were Mexican, and actually lived in a migratory pattern—working in California for the harvest season, heading home to Mexico for the winter months, then returning to work in the fields in the spring. 

However, the Great Depression and financial hardships disturbed this system, as more and more U.S. citizens needed jobs. Immigration legislation became more strict, resulting in the deportation of thousands of migrant workers. The influx of Dust Bowl migrants, or “Okies,” would fill many of the available agriculture positions, but there were not enough jobs for the number of people flooding into California. 

In addition, the Okies, desperate for employment, would willingly take the jobs that farmworkers were leaving in order to strike. Unionization, meant to unite farm workers across the state to demonstrate the need for better pay and working conditions, meant nothing to the Okies, who would cross the picket lines and work for reduced pay.

Library of Congress; California Capitol Museum

Large agricultural surpluses during the 1920s caused prices for farm products to steadily decrease, and the Great Depression caused agricultural markets to crash. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt on May 12, 1933.  The goals of the AAA included limiting crop production, reducing stock numbers, and refinancing mortgages with terms more favorable to struggling farmers. At the beginning, this process seemed counterintuitive as fields were plowed under and corn burned as fuel instead of being used as food. However, removing surplus products from the market and paying farmers to reduce production of cotton, corn, and wheat, resulted in farm prices rising.

Farm income in 1935 was 50% higher than in 1932, and the trend continued throughout the 1930s. While the administration of the Agricultural Adjustment Act ended in 1942, federal farm support programs that emerged during this period would continue long after the war.

The Living New Deal, livingnewdeal.org

The Farm Security Administration, or FSA, established in 1937, attempted to reduce the impact of homelessness and migratory life on the millions of Americans displaced by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Instead of living in shanty towns or camps, the FSA set up clean residential camps with running water and simple but safe living quarters. The FSA hired photographers to document the work of the FSA and capture what rural poverty looked like in California and in other states, including the Deep South.

Library of Congress

Agricultural employment was not covered by State unemployment compensation laws or by Social Security benefits, but people living or working on farms might qualify for either under different circumstances. For example, men that worked on farms for the majority of the year but were hired for factory work during the winter months would be covered by both Social Security and State unemployment compensation laws. The requirements for both programs were fairly simple, so most people who found work outside of agriculture could qualify and receive the benefits once they reached retirement age.

Social Security Administration History, July 1937

California served as the country’s assembly line. With its large economic capacity (factories, railroad lines, shipping ports, and air travel) and massive population, the state began churning out various war supplies and equipment. Defense spending would boost local economies as well, assisting in the state’s recovery from the economic disaster of the Great Depression.

In addition, California supplied 14% of the nation’s total agricultural production, the most of any individual state. Agricultural income in 1940 amounted to $627 million and would increase to $1.7 billion in 1944.

Capitol Museum, "Called to Action: California's Role in World War II" exhibit

The US Department of Agriculture’s Crop Corps, a federal agency tasked with overseeing agricultural efforts, monitored WWII’s Women’s Land Army of America, or WLAA. Approximately 1.5 million women would be employed through the WLAA to perform farming jobs including driving tractors, picking fruit, milking cows, and trucking produce. The WLAA allowed women to earn a living wage and learn valuable skills. The majority of women employed by the WLAA were seasonal farm employees.

National Archives, "To the Rescue of the Crops" by Judy Barrett Litoff and David C. Smith (1993)

The Railroadettes were the railroad industry’s version of Rosie the Riveter. Railroadettes worked in many different positions for various U.S. railroads. Southern Pacific alone needed nearly 20,000 employees to replace male employees that joined the military during the war. White women took over many of the positions previously held by men, including white-collar positions like engineers and operators. Meanwhile, African American and Latina women worked in unskilled labor positions. According to an article in a February 25, 1943 edition of the Coronado Eagle and Journal, “[m]ore than 2200 railroadettes are now employed in the motive power and stores departments of the companys’ Pacific Lines.” Another source states that over 4,000 female employees had taken on jobs formerly done solely by men.  

The California State Railroad Museum’s new digital exhibit “Crossing Lines: Women of the American Railroad” explores the Railroadettes and other notable women in the railroad industry.

California State Railroad Museum ; "More than 2,000 Women Now Employed by Local Railroad; More Needed," Coronado Eagle and Journal, Vol XXXI No. 8 Feb 25, 1943

On January 12, 1943, otherwise known as Farm Mobilization Day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation and stressed the importance of American agriculture in the efforts to win the war stating, “Food is the lifeline of the forces that fight for freedom. Free people everywhere can be grateful to the farm families that are making victory possible.” While many farm laborers during the war were men, women became a major source of farm labor and the efforts to keep both America and its allies fed. 

In 1942, as many men left agricultural pursuits for better paying war industry jobs or for military service, various programs to recruit and train women for farm work began to appear across the U.S. In California, the American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) gathered one thousand women to help with fruit and vegetable harvests. A Vacaville farmer went to the AWVS and offered to hire women to work for him and a group of farmers, and that a camp was going to be set up at a local school to house the women. Some women employed at the camp were using vacation time from their formal employment while others were not regularly employed at the time. 

In Southern California, the AVWS worked to recruit women but ran into an issue; many farmers were unwilling to hire women. Most farmers were used to hiring Mexican field laborers, who were migratory in nature and, according to social standards and customs, did not require the same quality of housing that a female workforce would require. Some farmers, willing to spend the money to supply decent housing in exchange for saving their crop, organized housing and bathroom facilities to suit the women’s needs. The most successful operation of this style, where the AWVS would recruit women for farm work and house them, was in the San Joaquin Valley, where women enjoyed excellent food, good housing, a bathroom with hot showers, and supervision by a camp director. These 1942 camps served as the blueprint for other female farm labor camps used during wartime.

"Women's Emergency Farm Service on the Pacific Coast in 1943," Bulletin of the Women's Bureau, No. 204 Published by the US Department of Labor, 1945

The Bracero Program was created by executive order in 1942 because many growers argued that World War II would bring labor shortages to low-paying agricultural jobs. On August 4, 1942, the U.S. and Mexico signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement, guaranteeing farm workers a minimum wage, insurance, and safe housing. In reality, farm owners frequently failed to live up to these requirements—strikes were a common occurrence throughout this period.

The introduction of the Bracero Program effectively reversed the immigrant laws and regulations of the 1930s, when migrant workers lost their jobs to the influx of Dust Bowl migrants. By the time the program ended in 1964, more than 4 million Mexican Braceros had entered the U.S. to work in the agriculture and railroad industries. These laborers especially helped the U.S. during WWII as the country struggled to meet both agricultural and industrial production demands.

Library of Congress; History.com

Japanese immigration had taken off during the first half of the twentieth century. Many had become farm laborers, miners, or worked for railroad companies. Some farm laborers saved enough to purchase their own farmland and began developing new techniques to increase production. Japanese-American farmers produced more than 40% of California’s pre-war vegetable crop. According to a 1982 report, the average value of Japanese American-run farms in California was $280 per acre in comparison to the average $38 per acre for all farms. 

In 1942, two months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order called for the forced removal of all people of Japanese heritage to incarceration centers, where they were held until the end of the war. During the forced evacuations, many Japanese Americans could not quickly make arrangements for the safekeeping of their property—many lost their homes, farms, businesses, and belongings. Farm Security Administration records show that over 6,500 pieces of agricultural property, totaling more than 250,000 acres of land, were seized during the internment process.

Japanese Internment would officially end January 2, 1945 and Japanese Americans were allowed to return home. Farming families who had found lessees for their land often returned home to destruction, vandalism, or even total loss.

To learn more about Japanese Internment, and the experiences of Japanese Americans during WWII, visit https://outofthedesert.yale.edu/

National Archives ; Library of Congress ; A.V. Krebs, "Bitter Harvest," The Washington Post, Feb. 2, 1992

While the introduction of pesticides in California had clear advantages, especially in preventing crop disease outbreaks, there was little understanding about proper use and harmful effects. Scientists and farmers worked together to develop regulations to keep food products safe for consumption. 

The following information represents a summarized timeline of scientific and legal advancements regarding pesticides in the state of California: 

• 1926: CDA (California Department of Agriculture) begins analyzing fresh fruits and vegetables for pesticides in response to public outcry over residues

• 1927: Chemical Spray Residue Act makes it illegal to ship, pack, and/or sell fruit or vegetables with harmful residues

• 1954: Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act amended to prohibit registration of any food-use pesticide that left residues UNLESS the FDA reported “safe” residue levels

• 1957: US Forest Service and Department of Ag prohibit spraying of DDT in areas around water in areas under federal jurisdiction

California Department of Pesticide Regulation, "A Brief History of Pesticide Regulation," published 2017

When the war ended, some of the technology that had been used for weapons, specifically explosives, would be repurposed to assist with growing crops. Instead of creating nitrogen for bombs, production facilities across the US would begin shipping ammonia nitrate to farms across the country. The ammonia nitrate would serve as an artificial source for the required nitrogen in soil, replenishing nutrients needed for plant growth and efficiency. 

One such plant, the Shell Chemical Company Ammonia Processing Plant (pictured here), was located in California.

G. Hergert, et al. (2015) "WWII Nitrogen Production Issues in Age of Modern Fertilizers," CropWatch, Univ. of Nebraska

Beginning in the 1940s, cattle ranchers experimented with selective breeding. By combining two different breeds with desirable traits, they discovered that some of the offspring would have the desired combination of traits (more muscle, better heat tolerance, etc.). DNA would not be discovered for nearly 20 years, but these ranchers were using their understanding of genetics and inheritance to create entirely new breeds of cattle. Selective breeding would increase productivity and prices for cattle producers.

The links between DNA and genetics would not be discovered by scientists for another 20 years.

livinghistoryfarm.org