The Federal Farm Board was established by the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1929 from the Federal Farm Loan Board established by the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916, with a revolving fund of half a billion dollars to stabilize prices and to promote the sale of agricultural products. The board would help farmers stabilize prices by buying and holding surplus grain and cotton in storage. The Farm Board was part of Herbert Hoover's response to the downward spiral of crop prices in the years leading up to the Great Depression.