March is the anniversary of the creation of the Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station at Iowa State. The Experiment Station was founded as a result of legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in 1887. Known as the Hatch Act, the legislation provided for the funding of agricultural research at Land Grant Colleges. In February of 1888, the Iowa General Assembly approved the terms of the Hatch Act and the Iowa Experiment Station was established. Administrative oversight of the Experiment Station was assigned to the Board of Trustees of the Iowa Agricultural College (Iowa State University). The Board, in turn, elected Captain R. P. Speer as the first director of the Experiment Station.
The work of the Experiment Station included improving and experimenting with various crops. The Station was equipped with (among other things) experimental orchards, fields, and farms. Farmers across the state were invited to contact the Station for help with their crops and domestic animals.
136 years after it opened, the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station is still doing its important work.
The Experiment Station is not a building or location. It is a program of research that is supported in part with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the State of Iowa. At Iowa State University, these public investments support research aimed at solving our state’s most pressing concerns in the areas of food safety, food security, natural resource stewardship, and the economic health of Iowa communities.
IA Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station homepage
The Experiment Station regularly produced Bulletins to disseminate their information and research. Many of these can be read in the Digital Repository. Many more Bulletins can be accessed by visiting the Special Collections and University Archives reading room.
Cardinal Tales 