Legal Definitions - Agricultural Adjustment Act

The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a federal law passed in 1933 that aimed to increase crop prices by paying farmers not to produce crops. The law was intended to help struggling farmers during the Great Depression.

For example, if a farmer had been growing corn on a certain plot of land, the AAA would pay the farmer to leave that land fallow for a season instead of planting more corn. This would reduce the supply of corn on the market, which would in turn raise the price of corn.

However, the Supreme Court declared the AAA unconstitutional in 1936 because it exceeded Congress's power to regulate commerce. A revised version of the law, the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, was later passed with more limited provisions.