The Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station (SAES) is an American

agricultural experiment station An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with ...

operated by the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

and founded in 1887. Part of UConn's College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, the SAES directs agriculture-related research while the university's Cooperative Extension Service engages in community education and outreach. Kumar Venkitanarayanan is the Station's associate director. Its offices are located in the W. B. Young Building on the main UConn campus in Storrs.

History

The Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station was established on May 18, 1887, when the Connecticut General Assembly voted to divide

Hatch Act of 1887 The Hatch Act of 1887 (ch. 314, , enacted 1887-03-02, et seq.) gave federal funds, initially $15,000 each, to state land-grant colleges in order to create a series of agricultural experiment stations, as well as pass along new information, e ...

funds 50/50 between the Storrs Agricultural School and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

, which had been established in 1875. Hatch Act revenue amounting to $7,500 per year was instrumental in establishing the new station. On March 27, 1888, the Station's first director,

Wilbur Olin Atwater Wilbur Olin Atwater (May 3, 1844 – September 22, 1907) was an American chemist known for his studies of human nutrition and metabolism, and is considered the father of modern nutrition research and education. He is credited with developing t ...

, commenced his duties.

Land-grant university A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts, Morrill Acts of 1862 and ...

status was transferred from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

to Storrs Agricultural School in 1893, energizing the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1895, the General Assembly granted an annual appropriation of $1,800 to the SAES. During the station's early years, practical farming experiments mostly took place there, while the "more purely scientific investigations" took place at the chemical laboratories at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

. The station's work was centralized exclusively in 1902. The SAES saw continued growth during the 1900s. The $15,000 awarded by the Adams Act of 1906 (a sequel to the Hatch Act) was divided equally with New Haven, doubling each station's federal funding. The Storrs International Egg Laying Contest, one of the first such contests in the world, began in 1911. Publications included influential research bulletins such as ''New England Trees in Winter'' (1911) by Albert Francis Blakeslee and Chester D. Jarvis. The Station's staff either conducted research full-time or split their time between research and teaching. As required by law, the Station published a biennial report as well as scores of research bulletins over the course of its existence. In 1913, Edward Hopkins Jenkins was appointed to oversee both Connecticut stations—a move "intended to further insure harmony of purpose and to prevent duplication of effort." The appointment strengthened the emphasis at Storrs Agricultural School on dairy, poultry, and animal husbandry research, whereas New Haven tended to specialize in plant research. The Purnell Act of 1925 granted $60,000 annually to the State of Connecticut, which again divided these funds equally between the two stations. Additional federal funding enabled the SAES to diversify its research, studying agricultural economics, rural sociology, and home economics. The General Assembly appropriated $70,000 to construct the Wilbur O. Atwater Laboratory, dedicated on the UConn campus on June 12, 1930. It was the only building for the primary use of the Station, aside from a two-story frame building that housed the Station's offices and library, built in the 1890s and torn down in the 1920s. The SAES continues to conduct and publish research. It also awards competitive capacity research grants.

Notable staff

, director (1888–1902) * Louis Adelbert Clinton, director (1902–1912) * Edward Hopkins Jenkins, director (1913–1923) * William L. Slate Jr., director (1923–1949) * A. A. Spielman, associate director (1949–1962) * William Crawford Kennard, associate director (1962–?) * Kumar Venkitanarayanan, associate director (2017–present)

References

External links

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station homepage

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station records
{{Coord, 41.8122, -72.2483, display=title Agricultural research stations Agricultural research institutes in the United States Agriculture in Connecticut University of Connecticut buildings and structures 1887 establishments in Connecticut Research institutes in Connecticut Organizations established in 1887