During the Gilded age the economy was growing very fast, but Industrialization brought high corruption levels, urban poverty and over-consumption of many items due capitalism was booming.
The railroads controlled all the prices, and farmers needed to rely on the railroads to transport their crops around the country; there was an increase in the number of farmers so their prices declined, and they were earning less and less; so many farmers lost their land not being able to compete, turning into tenant farming (renting the right to farm) they were farmers without farms. They were not able to keep up with inflation rates either.