USA has a long history of government paying farmers to destroy crops.
In May 1933 the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was passed. This act encouraged those who were still left in farming to grow fewer crops. Therefore, there would be less produce on the market and crop prices would rise thus benefiting the farmers – though not the consumers.
The AAA paid farmers to destroy some of their crops and farm animals. In 1933 alone, $100 million was paid out to cotton farmers to plough their crop back into the ground! Six million piglets were slaughtered by the government after it had bought them from the farmers. The meat was canned and given away for free to the unemployed. Though this all made perfect sense in terms of economically stabilising the farming market, many Americans could not accept this policy of destruction. Opponents of the New Deal created a simple chant for people to express their views on the AAA – “Poor Little Piggies”.
Regardless of this, the Act did make a marked improvement in the life of farmers as prices rose, evictions markedly dropped and the farmers’ income increased.
In 1936, the Supreme Court declared that the AAA was unconstitutional in that it had allowed the federal government to interfere in the running of state issues. This effectively killed off the AAA.
Roosevelt started this during the Depression.