Agricultural Education and Extension

Agricultural Education and Extension. The system of agricultural education and extension consists of the land‐grant colleges with their associated agricultural experiment stations and cooperative extension services, and secondary schools that offer vocational instruction in agriculture. The sixty‐nine land‐grant colleges that existed by the end of the twentieth century were established under the provisions of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, which required that they offer residential instruction in agriculture.

The Hatch Act of 1887 appropriated federal funds for the establishment in each state of one or more experiment stations to undertake systematic study of agricultural problems and to formulate scientific knowledge that could be presented in college classrooms. The stations were usually located at the land‐grant colleges and commonly shared faculty with them.

The experiment stations were required to disseminate their findings among farmers, but the printed word proved to be an ineffective form of communication as also were farmers' institutes. In 1903, Seaman A. Knapp introduced in Texas the demonstration method by which farmers learned improved agricultural practices under the direction of a skilled adviser, later to be known as a county agent. Success with this teaching innovation led to boys' and girls' corn and tomato clubs, which developed into the 4‐H club movement for farm youth, and to home‐demonstration work with rural women. The Smith‐Lever Act of 1914 provided additional federal support for a nationwide educational program for all members of the farm family.

Vocational instruction in agriculture began around 1897 with nature study in the public schools of New York State and elsewhere. In the first decade of the twentieth century, some states authorized the establishment of agricultural high schools. These institutions disappeared when public high schools began to employ graduates of the land‐grant colleges to offer courses in vocational agriculture and home economics. The Smith‐Hughes Act of 1917 funded such educational programs. This system of agricultural education contributed greatly to the development of the United States in the twentieth century. By increasing dramatically agricultural productivity, it permitted a sharp reduction in farm population while providing abundant and low‐cost food and fiber.
See also Agriculture: 1770s to 1890; Agriculture: The “Golden Age” (1890s–1920); Agriculture: Since 1920; Education: Collegiate Education.

Bibliography

Edward D. Eddy , Colleges for Our Land and Time: The Land‐Grant Idea in American Education, 1957.
Alan I. Marcus , Agricultural Science and the Quest for Legitimacy: Farmers, Agricultural Colleges, and Experiment Stations, 1985.

Roy V. Scott