Department of Agricultural Economics 100 year celebration

Early research efforts of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, (TAES), were largely production oriented. This emphasis on product-increasing technology was further augmented by efforts to extend information to farmers, an effort that was finally culminated with the formation of the Texas Agricultural Extension Services (TAEX) in 1914. Agricultural production vastly increased in the United States due to expanded acreage from western expansion, mechanization and the completion of the transcontinental railroad. However, with this, came market flooding and serious economic problems.

Higher farm prices during most of the 1910-1919 decade, growing out of World War I added further emphasis on increased production. Farm prices collapsed soon after the close of the war, declining 40 percent from mid-1919 to the close of 1920. As these depressed farm prices continued into and through the 20s, it was apparent that the time for addressing economic issues of agriculture and for improving economic literacy of both graduates from the agricultural college and farmers and ranchers had arrived. In 1922, out of discussions and immense need across the state, the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University was born with its inaugural degree program in Agricultural Administration. Over the next 100 years, the department would become a leading source of information for Texas farmers, ranchers and policy makers and would train the next generation of informed, skilled graduates.

History excerpt taken from Agricultural Economics: Its History and Development at Texas A&M University Through 1983 by John A. Hopkins and Katherine Sue Durden (1985).