A look at the Farmer's Holiday Association in 1932

Let’s call a Farmer’s Holiday, A Farmer’s Holiday we’ll hold, We’ll eat our wheat and ham and eggs, And let them eat their gold.

The first farm unity speech Milo Reno delivered in Montgomery County took place in Villisca on January 6, 1921. Reno’s message became more extreme as years passed, and when he was in Red Oak in 1932 it was to urge farmers to go on strike—a strike destined to become violent.

Reno, an ordained minister from Wapello County, embraced socialistic views and bitterly opposed President Hoover, a conservative capitalist. Franklin Roosevelt, in his view, was better but moved too slowly.

As Depression-era farm prices fell below the cost of production, Reno, who advocated “sharing the wealth,” demanded government price supports. When his political attempts for price subsidies were not promptly acted upon he laid the groundwork for a widespread farmer’s strike, which his supporters called a “Holiday.” FHA (Farmer’s Holiday Association) was formed to carry out Milo Reno’s belief that an extended holiday—a period of time during which farmers paid no taxes, settled no debts, sold nothing they produced—would drive food prices higher.

Reno called for his strike to begin in August of 1932. Non-FHA members were expected to support the action, and farmers who tried to cross the line did so at considerable risk. Reno’s main focus, and biggest impact, was in major processing and shipping points and on roads leading to them.

During the strike, which lasted a month and included a good deal of activity in our county, FHA members set up picket lines, blocked roads, and roamed about armed with guns, clubs, and pitchforks. Trucks were stopped, milk was poured into ditches, hogs shot and left to rot. The strike spread to adjoining states, eventually being taken up as far away as Texas.

At least one person was killed, others injured. More than 80 farmers were arrested and spent a night or two in the “Squirrel Cage” jail in Council Bluffs. Violence accelerated and the western Iowa coordinator, Clifton Savery, resigned. Reno called an end to “Holiday” in early September.

The termination of the strike, however, did not end the mayhem. The following spring a judge in LeMars, while preparing to hear arguments on a farm foreclosure matter, was dragged from his courtroom, blindfolded, kicked, and threatened with lynching. Truckers caught taking livestock to market were pulled from their vehicles and beaten. Farmers blockaded veterinarians attempting to carry out state mandated testing of dairy herds.

Our Montgomery County National Guard units helped win the “cow wars,” and when Reno called a second strike in 1933 the state was better prepared.

Milo Reno faded from public view after the second strike, and died in 1936.

While Reno was disappointed in FDR there is no doubt his activism influenced Roosevelt’s New Deal farm program, which set a precedent by distributing payments for not producing. Material for this article comes from The Red Oak Express and the book “Milo Reno: Farmer’s Union Pioneer” by Roland A. White.

Roy Marhsall is a local historian. E-mail him at news@redoakexpress.com.