History // College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

1839

University of Missouri founded

Established in 1839, the University of Missouri was the first public university west of the Mississippi River. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

1862

Morrill Act

Morrill Act creates state colleges of agriculture.

1870

MU College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts founded

1870

George Clinton Swallow appointed as the first Dean of the MU Agriculture and Mechanical College

https://cafnr.missouri.edu/2012/11/border-ruffian-savant/

1870

First students enrolled

1871

Switzler Hall was built

The first classes for the new MU College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts were held here. It was originally named Scientific Hall, then Agricultural Hall.

1872

Mizzou tests new mass-produced plows

Mizzou tests new mass-produced plows and cultivators and shares results with farmers

1873

First students graduated

1876

Entomologist C.V. Riley helped save French wine industry with Missouri rootstock

1880

Henry Kirklin, the University’s first Black teacher, teaches how to prune and graft plants

Henry Kirklin (1858-1938) was a former enslaved person who became a prize-winning gardener and horticulturist and a successful businessman. After joining the University of Missouri’s horticulture department as a gardener and greenhouse supervisor, he may have been the first African American to teach at the university, although in an informal, unofficial capacity, as the university did not allow Black people to hold official teaching positions during his lifetime.

1882

J.W. Sanborn became dean

1885

First U.S. vaccine-virus lab established

Agriculture’s veterinary science department establishes first U.S. vaccine-virus lab.

1887

Hatch Act established agricultural experiment stations

Hatch Act established agricultural experiment stations at land-grant universities.

1888

J.W. Sanborn establishes Sanborn Field (then called Rotation Field)

1888

Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) was created within the college to develop the agricultural sciences by practical research

AES was created within the college to develop the agricultural sciences by practical research

1889

Edward D. Porter became dean

(1889-1895)

1890

College of Agriculture published bulletins to share research discoveries with farmers

1891

First agriculture graduate student at Mizzou

1892

Swallow Hall constructed

Natural resources and some ag classes were taught here. The building is named for the first dean of MU agriculture, George Swallow.

1893

Animal science experts created vaccine for Texas Fever

Animal science experts determine that Texas Fever is caused by ticks and created a vaccine to eradicate the cattle disease.

1894

Agricultural Chemistry becomes first department in the College of Agriculture

1894

Mizzou Anti-Hog Cholera Serum plant opens

1895

H.J. Waters became dean

(1895-1909)

1896

Dunn-Palmer Herbarium founded

Dunn-Palmer Herbarium became the first plant library west of the Mississippi.

1901

Dairy science building built

Later expanded and renamed Eckles Hall in honor of Clarence Henry Eckles in 1938

1901

First four-year course in agriculture developed

1901

College adds to curriculum

Colleges adds dairy husbandry, animal husbandry, agronomy, farm management, field crops, soils and agricultural engineering to curriculum.

1903

First short courses offered

Short courses were popular because they lasted only eight weeks and were held during the winter, a slow time of the year for farmers.

1904

Animal husbandry department formed

In 1904 most Missouri farmers raised livestock, so the department worked closely with livestock producers. This trend of working with livestock producers has continued through the years.

1905

First MU Livestock Judging Team

1906

Farmer’s Week began

Farmer’s Week was popular for decades until World War II when the draft and gasoline rationing affected attendance.

1909

Dairy chemistry lab, Eckles Hall

1909

Home economics class

1909

Frederick Blackmar Mumford became dean

(1909-1938)

1910

Dairy cow Chief Josephine produces a record 15,725 pounds of milk in one year

1910

Department of Farm Management established

1910

MU Extension spread research results to citizen of Missouri

1911

Poultry Husbandry Department established

1911

College of Agriculture began research on soybeans

College of Agriculture begins research on soybeans, a $6 billion Missouri industry today.

1912

Special trains journey through Missouri sharing research discoveries with farmers

1913

College of Agriculture faculty answer 109,557 questions from Missouri farmers

1914

Department of Soils formed

The new department was housed in Mumford Hall.

1914

Smith-Lever Act established

Smith-Lever Act established cooperative extension to inform about agriculture developments

1915

Dean Mumford directed projects to boost production

Dean Mumford directs project to boost production from 22 to 44 bushels per acre to help war effort.

1917

M.F. Miller studies soil and water loss under different cropping systems

1919

President Wilson picked Fredrick Mumford to help rebuild French agriculture

1922

College’s Clover and Prosperity program fights soil erosion

1923

Agriculture enrollment hit 700

1926

Memorial Union’s first phase of construction completed

Today, the University of Missouri’s Memorial Union is a campus icon that remembers soldiers who died in battle. The concept came from a poem written by a MU College of Agriculture graduate who perished in World War I. Robert McGhee “Peaches” Graham (1892 – 1918) and his Army friends wrote the poem, which calls for the construction of a bell tower on the MU campus to memorialize the University’s war dead. Photo of Bell Tower construction courtesy University Archives.

1927

Lewis Stadler discovers radiation multiples mutations in plants

Lewis Stadler discovers radiation multiples mutations in plants, a break though leading to faster development of new crop varieties.

1928

Early Leaders of the College

Picture of the faculty of the Department of Animal Husbandry at the University of Missouri taken in 1928 or 1929. Front row (from left) – Jim Burch, Jim Foster, Frederick B. Mumford, EA Trowbridge, and Fred F. McKenzie; Middle row (from left) – L.A. Weaver, T.A. Ewing, A.G. Hogan, and D. Chittenden; Back row (from left) L.E. Casida (PhD student), H. Garlock, H. Moffett, and J.E. Comfort.

M.F. Miller became dean

(1938-1945)

1938

Mizzou Agricultural Library among largest in nation

1943

“Woody” Woodruff is first researcher to break 100 bushel per acre barrier

1944

Leonard Haseman and L.F. Childers perfect diet to protect bees

Leonard Haseman and L.F. Childers perfect a diet that protects bees from a disease that threatens to wipe out nation’s bee colonies.

1945

Aureomycin discovered

1945

E.A. Trowbridge became dean

(1945-1948)

1947

Department of Forestry established

The department was housed in the Agriculture Building and was elevated to the status of School of Forestry in 1957.

1948

First MU Livestock Judging Team with a female participant

1948

J.H. Longwell became dean

(1948-1960)

1952

Foremost Dairy Research Center was built through a generous donation from J.C. Penney

The center was named after his famous bull, Langwater Foremost.

1952

Ernest and Lotti Sears developed a wheat strain resistance

Ernest and Lotti Sears developed a wheat strain resistant to rust disease – strain became a worldwide food source.

1953

Horticulture Research Center opens

The Horticulture Research Center became the Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center (HARC) in 1995.

1954

Agricultural faculty help set up Indian agricultural universities

1955

Thompson Farm established

Thompson Farm was established in 1955 through the will of Dr. George Drury, a retired dentist. The terms of the will prescribed that the farm should be “dedicated to public educational purposes in memory of Eulah Thompson Drury, Guy A. Thompson, Paschall W. Thompson and Olive F. Thompson.”

1957

Gyorgy Redei indentified Arabidopsis as a model

Gyorgy Redei identified Arabidopsis as a model of flowering plant genetics, which becomes a standard worldwide.

1958

Delta Research Center opens in Portageville

1959

Farmers tour the new Bradford Research Farm

1959

Research began on herbicide Treflan

1960

Elmer R. Kiehl became dean

(1960-1979)

1961

Ag Building dedicated

1964

Sanborn Field added to National Register of Historical Places

1965

Forage Systems Research Center was established

The primary research objective is the development and evaluation of forage systems for all classes of beef cattle.

1965

Six new Missouri cotton varieties developed

1967

Department of Atmospheric Science formed

The new department was housed in Gentry Hall.

1969

Hospitality Management program was established

It was then called Hotel and Restaurant Management. The program name changed in 2011 to reflect how the hospitality industry has grown and developed.

1969

MU Animal Science Research Center construction began

1973

Fisheries and Wildlife program becomes part of Natural Resources

The program was originally established in 1937 in the College of Arts and Sciences, and was housed in Stephens Hall.

1974

Greenley Research Center dedicated after Hortense Greenley donates 700-acre farm

1976

MU Biochemistry created as a joint affiliation between the School of Medicine and CAFNR

For decades, faculty at the University of Missouri’s Department of Biochemistry had one collective goal — to study life at the molecular level — but were in two separate units, one housed in CAFNR under the name agricultural chemistry and one in the School of Medicine under its current name.

1980

Max Lennon became dean

(1980-1983)

1983

Animal and poultry science departments merge; single undergraduate curriculum in animal, dairy and poultry science created

1983

Roger Mitchell became dean

(1983-1998)

1984

Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) established

1989

School of Natural Resources created

1989

Animal and dairy science departments merged to form the animal sciences unit

1995

Ernie Soft Red Winter Wheat announced

1996

Construction of the Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources building

1998

The MU Center for Agroforestry established

The MU Center for Agroforestry is one of the world’s leading centers in agroforestry research.

1998

Anheuser-Busch Natural Resources Building dedicated

1999

Thomas L. Payne became dean

(1999-2016)

2000

Bioengineering Department created as a jointly affiliated unit between CAFNR and the College of Engineering

2000

Randall Prather cloned first pig

Randall Prather cloned first pig in which a gene that causes human rejections “knocked out” of the DNA.

2005

Bruce McClure determined molecular mechanism

Bruce McClure determined molecular mechanism by which flowering plants recognize which pollens are appropriate for fertilization.

2005

The Division of Plant Sciences formed

New division was formed through the consolidation of the former departments of Agronomy, Entomology, Horticulture, and Plant Microbiology and Pathology.

2009

Monty Kerley identifies cattle that achieve weight goals on less feed

2010

CAFNR enrollment surpasses 3,000 students

2011

CAFNR scholarships top $1 million

2012

Mizzou’s $75 million woody biomass boiler goes online, replacing polluting coal

2012

Missouri’s first drought simulators open

2019

Drive to Distinction – CAFNR Strategic Plan Launched

Missouri is fortunate to have strong agriculture, natural resource, financial and healthcare industries as allied partners to provide CAFNR, as part of Missouri’s land-grant university, an opportunity to affect the lives of every citizen by providing unbiased, relevant and accessible education, information and resources.

2017

Christopher R. Daubert became dean

(2017 – present)

2019

CAFNR officially opens Land of the Osages Research Center

This new center, the first center to open in more than 30 years, will further research in agroforestry, a sustainability-focused system that combines trees and shrubs with crops.

2019

About the future from Vice Chancellor and Dean Christopher Daubert

“Massive changes are happening in agriculture and natural resources,” Vice Chancellor and Dean Daubert says. With the world’s population projected to increase to 9 billion by 2050, along with rapidly changing climates, it’s up to science to help communities adapt, he says. “As a land-grant institution, we work hard to share current technologies with our students and Missourians. But we also must go beyond that and teach next-generation practices that will keep our agriculture and natural resource industries thriving and striving to be on top far into the future.”

2020