<P> To stabilize prices, the government paid farmers and ordered more than six million pigs to be slaughtered . It paid to have the meat packed and distributed to the poor and hungry . The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) was established to regulate crop and other surpluses . FDR in an address on the AAA commented, </P> <P> Let me make one other point clear for the benefit of the millions in cities who have to buy meats . Last year the Nation suffered a drought of unparalleled intensity . If there had been no Government program, if the old order had obtained in 1933 and 1934, that drought on the cattle ranges of America and in the corn belt would have resulted in the marketing of thin cattle, immature hogs and the death of these animals on the range and on the farm, and if the old order had been in effect those years, we would have had a vastly greater shortage than we face today . Our program--we can prove it--saved the lives of millions of head of livestock . They are still on the range, and other millions of heads are today canned and ready for this country to eat ." </P> <P> The FSRC diverted agricultural commodities to relief organizations . Apples, beans, canned beef, flour and pork products were distributed through local relief channels . Cotton goods were later included, to clothe the needy . </P> <P> In 1935, the federal government formed a Drought Relief Service (DRS) to coordinate relief activities . The DRS bought cattle in counties which were designated emergency areas, for $14 to $20 a head . Animals determined unfit for human consumption were killed; at the beginning of the program, more than 50 percent were so designated in emergency areas . The DRS assigned the remaining cattle to the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) to be used in food distribution to families nationwide . Although it was difficult for farmers to give up their herds, the cattle slaughter program helped many of them avoid bankruptcy . "The government cattle buying program was a blessing to many farmers, as they could not afford to keep their cattle, and the government paid a better price than they could obtain in local markets ." </P>

What was the dust bowl and its effects