Capper-Volstead Act

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Capper-Volstead Act was adopted on February 18, 1922. As a consequence of the depression of agricultural prices subsequent to the World War I, farm organizations intensified their drive for government aid and managed to get a farm bloc established in Congress. Senator Arthur Capper was a member of this bloc and the Capper-Volstead Act was a part of the farm legislative program.

The act authorized various kinds of agricultural producers to form voluntary co-operative associations for purposes of producing, handling and marketing farm products - that is, it exempted such associations from the application of the antitrust laws. The Secretary of Agriculture was given power, on his own motion, to prevent such associations from achieving and maintaining monopolies. He could hold hearings, determine facts and issue orders ultimately subject to review by federal district courts.

Source: Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940