Minnesota Science
Vol. 42, No. 4
What the Hatch Act Hatched 100 Years Ago
by Larry Etkin
Let's face it. The fact that the Hatch Act was passed by Congress 100 years ago this year is not news that is jamming telephone wires across the country. It is not a victory whose anniversary has been celebrated with Homer Hankies, and in its commemoration not a single new car has been given away. Nevertheless, it matters.
Because of the Hatch Act, which established agricultural experiment stations at every land grant university across the country, including the University of Minnesota, a lot of research has been done that otherwise might never have been possible. Of course, the Hatch Act only confirmed the foresight of Minnesotans who had already allocated state funds, two years earlier, to create the Agricultural Experiment Station.
They knew back then not only where our bread was buttered in Minnesota, but what industry produced both the bread and the butter. And they also knew that what would help keep our fledgling agricultural industry alive and thriving was knowledge, education, and research.
The Hatch Act entitled each state's experiment station to $15,000 a year from the federal government. The act also granted the states free use of the postal system so that research findings could be widely distributed. In 1987, the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station received over $3 million from Hatch Act funds.
The experiment station receives a mixture of support from federal funds, state appropriations, and grants and contracts with industry and various state and federal agencies. Hatch funding provides base support to help the experiment station respond rapidly to changing needs of farmers and consumers. It also funds long-term research efforts.
Although Minnesota farmers were the original beneficiaries of experiment station research, the mission of the station has broadened throughout its existence and now all Minnesotans-?and others around the nation and the world?-share in the benefits of station research, whether they live on farms or in cities, suburbs, or small towns.
PHOTO CUTLINE: Research methods of the experiment station have become
increasingly sophisticated over the past 100 years, but the goal to help improve
the quality of life for Minnesotans has remained the same.