About AgriLife Research
Texas AgriLife Research comprises its College Station headquarters, 13 research centers reaching from El Paso to Beaumont and Amarillo to Weslaco, and associated research stations. A member of The Texas A&M University System, AgriLife Research has 1,700 employees, 375 of which are doctoral-level scientists who are nationally recognized experts in their fields. AgriLife Research collaborates with more than 30 nations. In 2009, expenditures will be more than $170 million.
In 1887, the U.S. Congress passed the Hatch Act, paving the way for Texas lawmakers to establish the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (now Texas AgriLife Research). By the turn of the twentieth century, it served as the source for much needed research into the pressing agricultural issues of the day: plant diseases and animal parasites, grass and forage production, and the economical feeding of dairy and beef cattle.
Today, Texas AgriLife Research is the state's premier research agency in agriculture, natural resources, and the life sciences. An agency of the Texas A&M University System, AgriLife Research collaborates with the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, and others to help fulfill the A&M System's land-grant mission of teaching, research, extension, and service.
Headquartered at Texas A&M University in College Station, AgriLife Research serves the entire state through its on-campus units and regional Research and Extension Centers. We conduct hundreds of projects spanning many scientific disciplines. Our research is international in scope. With a new name and a renewed vision for serving the state of Texas, AgriLife Research delivers life-sustaining and life-changing impacts to citizens throughout the state. While maintaining our traditional connection to farming and ranching, our researchers are also developing fruits and vegetables with enhanced nutrition and disease-fighting compounds, leading innovative research for renewable energy sources, working with the U.S. military to sustain training lands, and implementing new methods to improve air and water quality.
Texas agricultural producers and consumers benefit directly from public investment in agricultural research in the forms of lower consumer prices, improved health and welfare, and an improved environment. Texas agriculture has also become more competitive in the global market. In short, the economic returns on investment in agricultural research are substantial. One study concluded that annual economic gains from investments in Texas's public agricultural research have reached more than $1 billion over the past four decades.
Playing an important role in our success are the many partnerships we have formed. AgriLife Research is cultivating educational, corporate, government, and community partners to meet modern challenges and is providing significant returns on investments. AgriLife Research is improving life through science and technology.
