<P> When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression . "Farmers faced the most severe economic situation and lowest agricultural prices since the 1890s ." "Overproduction and a shrinking international market had driven down agricultural prices ." Soon after his inauguration, Roosevelt called the Hundred Days Congress into session to address the crumbling economy . From this Congress came the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, to replace the Federal Farm Board . The Roosevelt Administration was tasked with decreasing agricultural surpluses . Wheat, cotton, field corn, hogs, rice, tobacco, and milk and its products were designated as basic commodities in the original legislation . Subsequent amendments in 1934 and 1935 expanded the list of basic commodities to include rye, flax, barley, grain sorghum, cattle, peanuts, sugar beets, sugar cane, and potatoes . The administration targeted these commodities for the following reasons: </P> <Ol> <Li> Changes in the prices of these commodities had a strong effect on the prices of other important commodities . </Li> <Li> These commodities were already running a surplus at the time . </Li> <Li> These items each required some amount of processing before they could be consumed by humans . </Li> </Ol> <Li> Changes in the prices of these commodities had a strong effect on the prices of other important commodities . </Li> <Li> These commodities were already running a surplus at the time . </Li>

Who was the agricultural adjustment act intended to help