According to Timothy Egan's book 'The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl' (2006), this film is "the only peacetime production by the American government of a film intended for broad commercial release."
Three of the four cameramen (all but Paul Ivano) who worked on this film were fired by director/writer Pare Lorentz. Basically, they considered him too verbally script-oriented and not sufficiently visually oriented. One of these cameramen was Paul Strand, who went on to become one of America's most honored still photographers.
Produced by the Resettlement Administration, one of President Roosevelt's "New Deal" federal programs, established in 1935. In 1937 it was succeeded by the Farm Security Administration. The only other film produced by this agency was The River (1938).
Originally budgeted at only $6,000, the film eventually cost $19,000 to produce. Much of this was paid for by director Pare Lorentz himself, as many of his poorly documented expense receipts were denied by the government agency producing this picture.
In 1999 this film was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress.