For nearly a century, the Economic Research
Service and its predecessor agencies have supported USDA programs
with economic data, research,
and analysis needed for sound decision-making. Henry C. Taylor (1873-1969)—who served as the first chief of the Bureau of
Agricultural Economics from 1922 to 1925—set the stage for
much of the work done in ERS today by organizing economic research
into one agency and expanding the role of economics for understanding
our food and agriculture system.
Early in the 20th century, agricultural research
focused on farmers and the rural population, a focus that has gradually
broadened
to include most demographic groups in the United States. Although
most U.S. farms are still family farms, most farmer operators now
rely on off-farm jobs as their primary source of income. Non-farm
manufacturing and service industries are the mainstay of most rural
economies, and two-thirds of U.S. farms are either in or adjacent
to metropolitan counties.
ERS continues to inform and enhance public and private decision
making on economic and policy issues related to agriculture and
rural development, the same central concerns of USDA economic research
activity in the early 1900s. However, ERS’s mission today
has broadened to reflect the changed environment of our food and
agriculture system, and it now includes research on such topics
as food safety and nutrition, natural resources, conservation,
and the environment.
ERS
and Its Predecessor Agencies
Officially established in 1961, the Economic Research Service
has its origins in the 1905 formation of the Office of Farm
Management
that was set up to examine economic aspects of farming within
USDA’s Bureau of Plant Industry.
Milestones Include:
1905—USDA establishes the Office of Farm Management, which
is renamed the Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics in
1919. Research areas are established for farm organization, cost
of production, farm labor, farm finance, land economics, agricultural
history, and rural life studies. President Roosevelt’s Country
Life Commission recommended that USDA expand its agricultural economic
research on the problems of farm families.
1922—Government leaders conclude that economic research
and analysis could help farmers solve their price and income problems,
and they establish the Bureau of Agricultural Economics
(BAE) with
Henry C. Taylor as chief.
1923—The BAE holds the first annual USDA Outlook Conference
in an effort to make information on market conditions more accessible
to farmers. The conference resulted in regular publication of market
outlook reports that continue to be valued by users of ERS research
products today.
1930s—Congress passes legislation for a variety of New Deal
programs for agriculture. Acreage allotments and quotas, price-support
loans, Federal crop insurance for farmers, and regional research
laboratories were established. The first programs for soil conservation
and food assistance were created, and programs to benefit rural
communities were also implemented. USDA assigns BAE the role of
central planning agency for department policy and the responsibility
for analyzing policy impacts during this period.
1953—USDA centralizes agricultural policy planning in its
administrative office and reassigns the economic research and service
functions of BAE to two new agencies, the Agricultural Marketing
Service and the Agricultural Research Service.
1961—USDA creates the Economic Research Service
(ERS) to
concentrate economic research within a single agency. The following
year, ERS expands its research focus to include economic development,
rural renewal, river basin and watershed programs, and resource
policy.
1977—ERS merged briefly with USDA’s statistical agency
and was called the Economics, Statistics and Cooperatives Service
(ESCS), but was later returned to agency status in 1981.
Present—For
the last four decades, ERS has provided expert economic analysis
and economic data to farmers, consumers and
policymakers as new technology and changes in domestic policy
and the rules for trade continue to alter the global marketplace.
See our Flash presentation, Forty
Years of Service.
Administrators of ERS, 1961 to the Present
1961-1965 |
Nathan M. Koffsky |
1965-1972 |
Melvin L. Upchurch |
1972-1977 |
Quentin M. West |
1977-1981 |
Kenneth R. Farrell (ESCS Administrator) |
1977-1981 |
J.B. Penn (Associate Administrator for Economics) |
1982-1993 |
John E. Lee |
1993-1996 |
Acting Administrators |
1996-2006 |
Susan Offutt |
2007 |
Kitty Smith |
For More Information on ERS and Public service:
- Baker, G. L. and W.D. Rasmussen. 1975. “Economic Research
in the Department of Agriculture: A Historical Perspective.” Agricultural
Economics Research, Vol. 27, No. 3-4, July-October.
- Centennial Committee, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1963.
Century of Service: the first 100 years of the United
States Department
of Agriculture. Washington D.C.
- Economic Research Service. 1991. Economics and Public Service:
Proceedings of the 30th Anniversary ERS Conference. U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Washington D.C.
- National Research Council. 1999. Sowing Seeds of Change:
Informing Public Policy in the Economic Research Service of
USDA. J.F. Geweke,
J.T. Bonnen, A.A. White and J. J. Koshel, Editors. National
Academy Press, Washington, DC.
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