<P> A massive influx of these new farmers, combined with inappropriate cultivation techniques and misunderstanding of the ecology, led to immense land erosion and eventually the Dust Bowl of the 1930s . </P> <P> In 1916, the Stock - Raising Homestead Act was passed for settlers seeking 640 acres (260 ha) of public land for ranching purposes . </P> <P> Renewed interest in homesteading was brought about by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's program of Subsistence Homesteading implemented in the 1930s under the New Deal . </P> <P> The Homestead Acts had few qualifying requirements . A homesteader had to be the head of the household or at least twenty - one years old . They had to live on the designated land, build a home, make improvements, and farm it for a minimum of five years . The filing fee was eighteen dollars (or ten to temporarily hold a claim to the land). </P>

When did the homestead act go into effect