Was looking through articles in Iowa State University Extension News and came across an article called What Is The Farm Problem? by Mark A. Edelman. Granted, it was written back in 1999, but much of its content struck a personal note for me. First paragraph was called The Historical Farm Problem – Overcapacity, Low Prices and Farm Income. What he describes is part of the historical background of The Northeast Quarter. He mentions that following WW1, as Europe got back on its feet, European food production began to improve and American farmers were caught with fewer markets to sell their crops. This created an agricultural depression which hit the heartland long before the advent of The Great Depression in 1929. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930 did nothing to improve matters – for it cut off both import and export possibilities. As a result, many farmers lost their land. It has taken them a long time to recover.