FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AT STATE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS 



AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS 



Two Federal laws, the Act of May 15, 1862, establishing the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, followed a few months later by passage of the 

 Land-Grant Act of July 2, 1862. provide the basic framework for State- 

 Federal cooperation in agricultural research. The Hatch Act of 1887, 

 authorizing each State to set up an agricultural experiment station at the 

 land-grant institutions, established under the Land-Grant Act- strengthened 

 the structural base. It made possible the longtime partnership between 

 State and Federal governments in advancing the Nation's farm technology. 

 The system thus established, tried and improved gradually through over 85 

 years of continuous operation, now is considered a foremost model for 

 patterning Federal support of research extending way beyond agriculture. 



Since 1888 Congress has appropriated money annually for use by the State 

 agricultural experiment stations on a formula basis. The major source of 

 experiment station support, however, comes from appropriations made by the 

 State Legislatures. The regulations and rules for administering the Hatch 

 funds, developed over the years by the Cooperative State Research Service, 

 and ixs predecessor agencies, have firmly established a policy of providing 

 administrative guidance and scientific consultation and leadership, but not 

 control of the station program. The administrative head of each station, 

 known as the Director, is appointed by the State. Genuine cooperation 

 between the State s tax ions and the Department of Agriculture has encouraged 

 development of a geographically dispersed network of agricultural science 

 centers. Each State has at least one such center; many of them have a 

 number of branch locations. They may direct their resources to whatever 

 problem arises to plague agriculture and rural life, whether local, state- 

 wide, regional, or national in scope. 



Federal-grant funds authorized under the Hatch Act is the major source of 

 Federal support of the State agricultural experiment stations in the 50 

 States and Puerto Rico. The Hatch Act, and the Cooperative Forestry 

 Research (Mel ntire-S tennis) Act, were amended by Public. Law 92-318, June 

 23, 1972, to provide funds for agricultural and forestry research for 

 Guam and the Virgin Islands. This Act, known as "The Education Amendments 

 of 1972", also established land-grant status for the University of Guam 

 and the College of the Virgin Islands. 



In addition to the Hatch Act, the Cooperative State Research Service is 

 currently responsible for the administration of the Acts and Authorizations 

 outlined in the next three paragraphs. 



Cooperative Forestry Research (Mclntire-Stennis) Act of October 10, 1962 

 (P.L. 87-788) . Under this Act ten institutions at other than land-grant 

 locations are currently certified as eligible for support by States. At 

 several of the land-grant locations, the university, college, or other 

 institutional unit was certified as eligible in lieu of the State Agri- 

 cultural experiment station. Funds were first certified to the eligible 

 institutions under this Act in fiscal year 1964. 



