Farmer’s Institutes

The Illinois Farmers Institute was founded in 1894 by Charles F. Mills, the secretary of the Illinois Board of Agriculture. While U of I had an active College of Agriculture, enrollment started to drop, therefore the institute would serve farmers not seeking a degree. It taught farmers how to improve their farming techniques and increase their crop yields. Initially these were taught through formal meetings held on campus, where farmers from across the state would attend lecturers.

There were also county level meetings, where farmers and researchers discussed agricultural ideas. Soon, the meetings’ popularity grew to the point where Annual Reports, printed renditions of the meetings, became mass distributed. These annual reports would feature correspondence of scientists, university faculty, and farmers, in which they discussed agricultural queries, such as testing soil samples, efficient methods of growing crops, managing finances, and more.

An example of information contributed to these meetings is Charles H. Shamel’s research on weather phenomena. This important data helped demonstrate that good and bad weather can greatly impact the health and yield of crops for farmers. The Illinois Farmers Institute proved beneficial to Illinois farmers when it came to sharing valuable information on how to improve and better their craft.