National Farmers’ Union

(NFU)

   First organized in 1902 in Texas to further cooperative action and nonpartisan political action on behalf of farmers, the NFU grew rapidly in the South. It flourished in the 1920s and together with the American Farm Bureau Federation was one of the most important farm bodies. The NFU called for protection to guarantee farmers their costs of production and a fair profit. Although the Agricultural Adjustment Act did not deliver this but provided instead for parity, the NFU largely supported Roosevelt’s New Deal program, though some more militant elements within the organization supported the Farm Holiday movement. As the NFU focused on the needs of smaller farmers, sharecroppers, and tenant farmers, it was generally happy with such New Deal agencies as the Resettlement Administration and later the Farm Security Administration. Its relations with both the Roosevelt and Truman administrations were generally good.

   See also Agriculture.