The Allocation of Research, Teaching, and Extension Personnel in U.S. Colleges of Agriculture

The aim of this paper is to inventory the allocation of research, teaching, and extension personnel by departments in United States colleges of agriculture and experiment stations, and to identify and measure factors that appear to influence this allocation. Although growth is the predominate characteristic of departments and disciplines, we observe and can predict decline in several instances. With the use of multiple regression analysis, state nonfarm income emerges as the most important variable explaining total funds available to experiment stations. Rural farm population has virtually no effect on total funds available. In fact, since 1960 it was somewhat of a detriment for an agricultural experiment station to be located in an agricultural state. At the departmental level, the departments engaged in farm oriented research (agronomy, animal husbandry, etc.) appear to be more dependent on farm income for support whereas departments in closer contact with the nonfarm sector (horticulture, agricultural economics, etc.) are more dependent on nonfarm income. Predictions for the early 1970's indicate largest growth for departments located in the high income, urban-industrial states particularly for those more closely tied to nonfarm income.