In 1938, US Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace believed all the government programs* were confusing to farmers and decided to experiment with a plan that worked from the bottom up -- and called it Land Use Planning. Farmers would ask for what they needed instead of sitting still and having the government make the decisions.
Secretary Wallace wanted a "guinea pig" to test his theory:
"He wanted an area as poor and eroded as it was possible to find. An area where rain gullies and the one cash crop system had forced the majority of farmers on relief. He found it in Caswell County [North Carolina]."
"If Land Use Planning will work here, it will work anywhere," said Wallace.
The Durham Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina), 24 November 1940. Republished: The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 19 January 1941.
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*Plethora of federal programs, including but not limited to the following:
Farm Security Administration
Agricultural Adjustment Administration
Bureau of Agricultural Economics
Production Credit Association
Rural Electrification Administration
Civilian Conservation Corps
Soil Conservation Service
State University Extension Service
Seed Loan Corporation
Forestry Service
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