Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs

A Foundation for Sustainable Rural Community Development

The Smith-Lever Act

• CLC home page
• Introduction
• Report

Summary

• Purpose
• Commissioners
• Survey & Hearings
• Prominent Deficiencies
• Underlying Problem
• Migration
• Agriculture Challenges
• Public Health
• Role of Farm Women
• Conservation & Land Use
• General Corrective Forces
• Commission Recommendations
• Legislative Recommendations
• Remedies
• The Call for Leadership

Legacy

• American Country Life Association
• Rural Sociology
• American Farm Bureau Federation
• Highways
• Agricultural Economics

Resources

• Bibliography
• Web Resources
• Timeline

The Smith-Lever Act established Cooperative Extension as a partnership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the land-grant universities. The act stated cooperative agriculture extension should consist of practical applications of research, along with instruction and practical demonstrations of existing or improved practices and technologies in agriculture.