An agricultural recession describes a period of low crop prices and sharply reduced farm incomes. Consequences may include second order effects such as

rural flight Rural flight (also known as rural-to-urban migration, rural depopulation, or rural exodus) is the Human migration, migratory pattern of people from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In Industriali ...

of people to towns and also had political effects. A common feature of agricultural recessions, in contrast to

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

s and

crop failure Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

, is a link to market conditions, such as the opening up of new areas of production or crops reaching markets previously protected, either by transport costs, or a war blockade (as after the Napoleonic and First World Wars).https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/p/paxton-fascism.html

Examples

An early agricultural recession was the Post-Napoleonic Depression where British agriculture was faced with cheap grain from Europe as Continental producers could freely export grain after two decades. This led to the introduction of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

to protect farmers. The Great depression of British agriculture, which had parallels in other European countries like France and Italy, was largely as a result of

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

as railways and

steam ship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The fir ...

s together with some farm mechanisation meant that fertile but sparsely populated areas such as the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

could now export grain far further from harvest to market without it rotting. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

there were agricultural recessions, most deeply in the United States, but in many other countries both traditional exporters like Australia but also in traditional importers like France. The

1980s farm crisis The United States experienced a major farm crisis during the 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the crisis had reached its peak. Land prices had fallen dramatically leading to record foreclosures. Farm debt for land and equipment purchases soared during ...

in the USA was more localized as the strong dollar, high oil prices and the grain embargo against the Soviet Union conspired to raise farming costs and lower grain prices.

References

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