70 SEA GRANT COLLEGES 



regional research. The experiment stations also receive about 11 million in re- 

 search contracts from USDA agencies, 24 million in research grants from other 

 federal agencies and about 140 million from state sources, for a total of 2 22 

 million dollars. 



COMPARATIVE EVALUATION BY UNIVERSITIES OF FEDERAL 

 ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCH GRANTS AND CONTRACTS 



The Select Committee on Government Research of the House of Represen- 

 tatives, 88th Congress, Second Session, in Study Number 1, reported on"Grant- 

 ees Rate the Grantors." Colleges and universities receiving a questionnaire 

 from the committee were asked to express level of satisfaction for the depart- 

 ments and agencies with which they had contact. The levels were: (1) excellent; 

 (2) reasonable; and, (3) difficult. The universities also were requested to give a 

 grading in the following five areas: (A) administrative red tape; (B) reporting 

 requirements; (C) budget details and negotiations; (D) length of decision making; 

 and,(E) fairness of selection process. 



The summary of replies gives cause for some boasting by the agency that 

 I represent. The Cooperative State Research Service system of federal research 

 fund administration received the highest level of satisfaction on the factors indi- 

 cated above. 



IMPACT OF LAND-GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAMS ON NATIONAL ECONOMY 



Several publications using somewhat different approaches have been pre- 

 pared on the returns from agricultural research supported with public funds 

 (8, pp. 40-45). Fortunately, the request of your program committee only sug- 

 gested that I "touch" on the effect of land-grant programs on the national econ- 

 omy. 



Beyond the measures of economic significance, I feel that Dean Spilhaus 

 has captured the broader concept in his statement on "The Idea," in the con- 

 ference program statement. May I repeat, "Establishment of the land- grant 

 college was one of the best investments this nation ever made." It seems rea- 

 sonable to assume that Dean Spilhaus had more in mind than measurable return 

 on the dollars invested. Evaluation needs to include the educational system that 

 evolved and the contributions made to the progressive development of our coun- 

 try from all programs of the land- grant system. 



ESTIMATE OF CONTRIBUTIONS FROM AGRICULTURAL 

 RESEARCH TO ECONOMIC GROWTH 



The release of workers from agriculture, combined with abundant supplies 

 of food and fiber for use it home and for foreign trade, provided the base for the 

 industrial and economic growth in the United States, If output per man-hour in 

 farming had remained the same as in 1920, today's farm output would need a 

 labor input nearly 4-1/2 times that used in 1963 when 6-1/2 million workers 

 were employed in agriculture. Nonagricultural employment increased by over 

 36 million in this period of time. Even though agricultural employment now 

 comprises about seven percent of total employment, agriculture's contributions 

 to economic growth are significant and will continue to be so in the future. 



About one-fifth more total resources would have been required to produce 

 the 1963 farm output if farmers had used the production techniques of only a 

 decade earlier. At cost levels in 1963, these additional resources would be 

 worth about $8 billion annually. If we also assume technology in the processing 

 and marketing of farm products at the 1953 level, handling the expanded volume 



44 



