For a couple of reasons (most of which are focused on the late 1800's in America, which I would assume this question is targeting):
1) As farmers, their bulk of their incomes were dependent upon one harvest to get them through the rest of the year, which means that a poor harvest one year can leave them with a shortfall in terms of both food and profit (made from selling the crops) for the next season.
2) Farmers rarely have enough cash on hand to finance the entire expense of their planting, and even so unexpected problems could arise that require more capital (a tractor breaks down, etc.).
In order to deal with these two conditions, farmers have to borrow money from banks or other lenders with the expectation that they will pay them back after the harvest. If money is undergoing a period of inflation (as it would on the silver standard vs. gold), then the real value of the loan is decreasing so the farmers get a break.
Example:
I borrow enough money to buy ten chocolate bars, but by the time I pay you back the money I borrowed plus interest that same amount of money can only buy 5 chocolate bars. Kind of extreme but same idea.
Farmers liked cheap money, as did every business dependent upon loans, because it meant they didn't have to pay back as much.
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For a couple of reasons (most of which are focused on the late 1800's in America, which I would assume this question is targeting):
1) As farmers, their bulk of their incomes were dependent upon one harvest to get them through the rest of the year, which means that a poor harvest one year can leave them with a shortfall in terms of both food and profit (made from selling the crops) for the next season.
2) Farmers rarely have enough cash on hand to finance the entire expense of their planting, and even so unexpected problems could arise that require more capital (a tractor breaks down, etc.).
In order to deal with these two conditions, farmers have to borrow money from banks or other lenders with the expectation that they will pay them back after the harvest. If money is undergoing a period of inflation (as it would on the silver standard vs. gold), then the real value of the loan is decreasing so the farmers get a break.
Example:
I borrow enough money to buy ten chocolate bars, but by the time I pay you back the money I borrowed plus interest that same amount of money can only buy 5 chocolate bars. Kind of extreme but same idea.
Farmers liked cheap money, as did every business dependent upon loans, because it meant they didn't have to pay back as much.
Hope that helps.
My "cheap money", U think you mean foriegn workers.
A lot of farmers had African and Latino workers, and they were paid extremely low, but compared to the standards of their home country is was a lot.
So crop loans would be inexpensive