Most likely they knew because they got pretty ill and maybe tried to find their way of curing their people.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was implemented under FDR's New Deal and was meant to increase the price of crops. It's main shortcoming was that it "curtailed the agricultural output and affected exports."
Cardinal Robert Bellarmine was in charge of commerce with
difficult issues linked to the Church’s power and beliefs during the Galileo disagreement.
He wrote the following letter to Paolo Antonio Foscarini in response to
Foscarini’s book defending Galileo.
hope it helps
