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Next week in my ag policy course, I will be discussing the importance of institutions in agriculture. One of them is the Land Grant System.
A very short thread about the structural inequality established in the LGU system that most of us overlook:
#agriculture #economics
A very short thread about the structural inequality established in the LGU system that most of us overlook:
#agriculture #economics
1) The LGUs were started with the Morril Act of 1862. 25 years later came the Hatch Act in 1887, which established the research capacity of the LGUs. Smith-Lever came in 1914 to establish Extension less than forty years later.
2) Since most non-white Americans could not attend LGUs in 1862, we passed another Morrill act in 1890 to establish the HBCU Land Grants. Native Americans did not get their own LGUs until 1994.
3) But HERE IS THE KICKER: 1890 LGUs did not receive Hatch Act Funding until the Evans-Allen Act of 1977.
Yes. 1977. As in an 80 YEAR DELAY in getting the research money already enjoyed at the other LGUs.
Yes. 1977. As in an 80 YEAR DELAY in getting the research money already enjoyed at the other LGUs.
In the same manner, 1890 institutions did not get Extension money until a law was passed in 1997.
Again, about an 80 year delay from the Smith-Lever Act passed in 1914 which gave money to the 1862 institutions.
Again, about an 80 year delay from the Smith-Lever Act passed in 1914 which gave money to the 1862 institutions.
4) One implication of this inequity is the fact that 1890 LGUs still have incredibly difficulty matching funds to receive research money. It is detailed in this 2013 report:
https://www.aplu.org/library/land-grant-but-unequal-state-one-to-one-match-funding-for-1890-land-grant-universities/file
https://www.aplu.org/library/land-grant-but-unequal-state-one-to-one-match-funding-for-1890-land-grant-universities/file
From the report: 1890 LGUs have incurred about a 52 million dollar loss because of inability to match funds.
5) The implications for this part of LGU history is that while we have many LGUs, some of them got lots of research help while others did not. What are the implications for our society today? A good question that I'm not sure anyone has tried to answer yet...
I remember this clip going around some time ago: a speech by MLK Jr. mentioning the LGUs and Extension by name as examples of structural racism against non-whites. His critique here makes a lot of sense given what we know about LGU history.
Is it any wonder then that we see articles today lamenting the lack of diversity in agriculture? This outcome was not an accident, but rather engineered. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/04/13/advocates-hoped-new-report-would-find-diversity-ag-it-found-old-white-people/
I do not post this thread as a way of acting like I knew all of this already. In fact, I'm sure some of you already did! I'm only posting it because its probably not something we think a lot about when it comes to the LGU system and its benefits to society.
One thing I've been mentioning in my class is that many outcomes you see in the economy were not accidents, but in fact they were engineered, whether consciously or not, by the policies we have put into place. History is important!
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