agricultural extension

Sharing Knowledge on the Frontier: Early Agricultural Extension in America

Dan Agri-Business, American Agriculture History Minute, This Land of Ours

Early American settlers faced a unique challenge: producing enough food and cash crops in unfamiliar lands with limited resources. In the absence of modern communications, these pioneers relied heavily on one vital resource—their neighbors. Learning from Those Around You As Mark Oppold notes in his American Agriculture History Minute, “Early settlers relied on friends and close neighbors for information on …

Kansas State University

Kansas State University: The First Morrill Act Land-Grant College and Its Civil War Origins

Dan Agri-Business, American Agriculture History Minute, Education, This Land of Ours

A Pioneering Beginning During the Civil War Kansas State University—originally named Kansas State Agricultural College—was formally established on February 16, 1863, in Manhattan, Kansas. As described in Mark Oppold’s American Agriculture History Minute, its founding took place during the American Civil War, a period marked by national upheaval yet also visionary public investment in education. Despite the challenges of wartime, …