Texas A&M 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, over 500 of which are doctoral-level scientists.
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 A&M 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, 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 A&M 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. While maintaining our traditional connection to farming and ranching, our researchers are also developing crops with enhanced nutrition, 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 well-being, 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. Research has shown 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.
