First Morrill Act was passed in 1862. The law authorized public land grants to states for the establishment and maintenance of agricultural and mechanical colleges. This legislation is a landmark in the creation of vocational education. A national priority was the education and preparation of individuals for the agricultural industries.

The first agricultural schools were established during the 1850s in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Practical apprenticeship and self-training, however, were still the chief means by which farmers learned the techniques of farming. The first significant advance in agricultural education began in 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, which enabled the states to establish land-grant colleges. Under this measure each state received a grant of public lands to be used or sold to provide a college to teach the agricultural and mechanical arts. By the next year each state had established such a college.

To supplement the instruction given in agricultural colleges, in 1887 Congress passed the Hatch Act, establishing the system of the agricultural experiment station. By 1893, 49 such stations were in existence. Today more than 50 stations are in operation, one in each state, as well as in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and several U.S. territories. With fields, barns, greenhouses, and laboratories at their disposal, scientists at these stations study soils, crops, animals, diseases, pests, and social and environmental factors.

"Agricultural Education," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.