THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: A Historical Note

Historic building photos will be included in this history in the near future. These photos were scanned from originals discovered in albums stored in the USDA South Building. Additional historical photos concerning agriculture are located at the National Archives in Beltsville, Maryland.

Cows in Anacostia Marsh.

A gallery of Agriculture Secretaries

December 7, 1796

In his farewell address to the Congress in Philadelphia, Pa., President George Washington proposed the creation of a Federal Board of Agriculture, to be supported by the public purse, to collect and diffuse agricultural information for the improvement of the nation's agriculture.

January, 1797

A Congressional Committee proposed a Federal Board of Agriculture, but it failed to come to a vote in Congress.

1819

The Secretary of the Treasury gave the idea support by asking consuls and naval officers abroad to send home seeds and improved breeds of domestic animals.

1836

Henry L. Ellsworth, Commissioner of Patents, on his own initiative, undertook to distribute seeds obtained from abroad to enterprising farmers.

1839

Congress appropriated $1,000 of Patent Office fees for collecting agricultural statistics, conducting agricultural investigations, and distributing seeds.

1854

The Agricultural Division of the Patent Office now employed a chemist, a botanist, and an entomologist, and was conducting experiments. During this period many farm editors, agricultural leaders, and officers of the numerous county and state agricultural societies continued to urge that agriculture be represented by a separate agency. The United States Agricultural Society assumed leadership of the movement.

December 3, 1861

President Abraham Lincoln , in a message to Congress, proposed a Federal Agricultural Board--as had George Washington 65 years earlier.

May 15, 1862

President Lincoln signed the act authorizing a U.S. Department of Agriculture. He referred to the newly formed Department as the "People's Department". The Department was headed by a Commissioner, Isaac Newton , rather than by a cabinet-level Secretary. Five days after signing the act which formed the "People's Department, Lincoln signed the Homestead Act . Six weeks later on July 2, 1862, Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant College Act that established land-grant colleges in each State to educate the sons and daughters of farmers and merchants.

1868

The first USDA building was completed.

1884

USDA's regulatory work was initiated with the creation of the Bureau of Animal Industry to control the movement of livestock in interstate commerce.

March 2, 1887

The Hatch Experiment Station Act was signed, which provided Federal grants for agricultural experimentation and a cooperative bond between USDA and the nation's land grant colleges.

February 15, 1889

The Commissioner of Agriculture was elevated to a cabinet-level Secretary position. Norman Jay Colman of Missouri, who had been Commissioner from April 3, 1885-February 15, 1889, served as the Secretary for less than one month, until March 6, 1889, when he was replaced by Jeremiah McLain Rusk of Wisconsin.

March 23, 1889

An assistant secretary was appointed and assigned responsibility for coordinating the scientific work of the Department.

August 30, 1890

The Meat Inspection Act was signed, authorizing USDA to inspect salted pork, bacon, and live animals intended for export, as well as to quarantine imported animals.

1897-1912

This was a period of great expansion under Secretary James "Tama Jim" Wilson . The number of USDA employees increased from 2,444 to 13, 858, while the Department's annual budget jumped from $3,636,264 to $21,103,646.

April 18, 1900

About 400 acres at Arlington, Va., were transferred from the War Department to USDA for use as an experimental farm. Subsequently the farm was displaced by the Pentagon .

1901

In a major reorganization, USDA centralized its activities by creating a Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Soils, Bureau of Chemistry, and Bureau of Forestry.

1905

The Forest Service was established after Gifford Pinchot, then head of the Bureau of Forestry, persuaded President Theodore Roosevelt to transfer custody of the national forests from the Department of the Interior to Agriculture.

1907

The east and west wings wings of the Administration Building were completed.

April 26, 1910

The Insecticide and Fungicide Act was signed, authorizing USDA to stop the Interstate shipment for sale of any adulterated or misbranded insecticide or fungicide.

March 1, 1911

Weeks law was signed, establishing the principle under which the Secretary of Agriculture could purchase lands for National Forests.

May 8, 1914

The Smith-Lever Act was signed, providing for cooperative administration of extension work by USDA and the state agricultural colleges. The major goal was to assist individual farmers in increasing productivity. This work resulted in the establishment of the Cooperative Extension Service , one of the most widely copied abroad of all United States government organizations.

August 18, 1914

The Cotton Futures Act was signed, representing the first major attempt to regulate the marketing of farm products.

August 11, 1916

The Grains Standard Act was signed, authorizing for the first time, the Secretary of Agriculture to establish standards of quality and condition of grain for sale domestically or overseas. It was subsequently applied to corn, wheat, and oats.

August 10, 1917

The Food Production Act was signed, the purpose of which was to stimulate the wartime production of agricultural commodities, especially corn and hogs.

August 15, 1921

The Packers and Stockyards Act was signed, giving USDA the authority to halt unfair, deceptive, discriminatory, and monopolistic practices in the marketing of livestock, poultry, and meat.

September 21, 1922

The Grain Futures Act was signed, empowering USDA to regulate futures trading and to prevent price manipulation on the grain exchanges. Subsequently, USDA's authority in this arena was broadened and extended to more commodities.

June 7, 1924

The Clarke-McNary Act was signed.

1930

The central section of the Administration Building was completed and construction of the Cotton Annex building began.

1932-1937

Wings 4 and 5 of the South Building were completed in 1932, wings 1, 6, and 7 in 1934 and wings 2 and 3 in 1937.

May 12, 1933

The Agricultural Adjustment Act was signed. It was the Federal government's response to the Great Depression of 1929 and led to what many have called "the new USDA." Under the AAA, USDA was assigned--for the first time--responsibility for administering a program that provided economic assistance directly to farmers. It marked the beginning of price supports, and emphasized production adjustment.

April 27, 1935

Congress declared soil erosion a national menace and directed USDA to establish a Soil Conservation Service.

May 11, 1935

The Rural Electrification Administration was established.

1932-1937

During this critical five-year period, USDA programs emphasized better rural credit facilities, soil conservation, aid for poverty-stricken farmers to acquire farms, and loans for rural electrification. These programs led in turn to new agencies responsible for their administration. USDA's staff during these years increased from 27,000 to 106,000. By comparison, the comparable total in 1987 was 90,000.

February 16, 1938

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 became the first law to provide direct price supports for basic commodities through a non-recourse loan program. It included payment limitations of $10,000 and has remained as a base for price support and adjustment legislation.

June 21, 1938

The Price Adjustment Act was signed, providing funds for parity payments.

May 3, 1939

Congress authorized a program to lend agricultural experts and scientists to Central and South American republics.

March 11, 1941

The Lend Lease Act was signed, under which USDA made agricultural commodities available to Great Britain and other allies during World War II.

December 5, 1942

Through Executive Order 9280, President Franklin Roosevelt delegated increased responsibility over food to the Secretary of Agriculture.

August 14, 1946

Anticipating possible surpluses, Congress approved the Research and Marketing Act, authorizing USDA to undertake large-scale marketing research.

July 10, 1954

Congress approved the Agicultural Trade Development and Assistance Act--better known as PL 480, or Food for Peace. During the 1950s, USDA emphasized foreign trade programs and the disposal of agricultural commodities abroad. The idea behind PL 480 was to take advantage of the coincidence of farm surpluses in the U.S. with a great need for food and fiber abroad. It proved to be of major importance in disposing of farm products abroad in aiding the economies of developing countries.

September 1, 1954

Jurisdiction over agricultural attaches, which had been shifted from USDA to the State Department in 1939, was transferred back to USDA.

1955

USDA launched a comprehensive rural development program for the first time.

August 28, 1957

Congress approved the Poultry Inspection Act, which authorized the compulsory Federal inspection of poultry sold in interstate commerce.

September 21, 1959

Legislation was approved authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and implement a food stamp program. Twenty months later, in 1961, President John Kennedy authorized an experimental Food Stamp Program to be carried out.

March 20, 1964

President Lyndon Johnson nominated Dorothy Jacobson to be Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs. She was the first woman to serve on the staff of a Secretary of Agriculture at that level. As an Assistant Secretary, she held the highest rank of any woman in USDA's history.

August 10, 1973

Congress passed the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act under which USDA shifted its emphasis from controlling production to maintaining it. Target prices replaced parity prices for most major commodities.

1985

The Farm Bill, officially titled the Food Security Act of 1985, began the process of restoring agriculture production to the push-pull of the marketplace.

October 13, 1994

President Bill Clinton signed into law the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, Public Law 103-354.

October 20, 1994

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy signed orders which began the implementation of the historic reorganization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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