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Description |
Agriculture has always played a major role in North Carolina's economy. During the mid-nineteenth century, improvements in farming techniques, the introduction of farm machinery, and the development of modern fertilizers transformed agriculture. Heightened interest in agricultural reform resulted in the organization of the North Carolina Agricultural Society in 1852. The following year the society began holding annual state fairs in Raleigh and would continue to do so until 1925, when the society was dissolved. The State Fair was continued under state auspices beginning in 1928. North Carolina's post-Civil War Constitution of 1868 provided for the creation of a "Bureau of Statistics, Agriculture, and Immigration" in the office of the secretary of state. Six years later the General Assembly formally constituted a Board of Immigration, Statistics, and Agriculture, with the Secretary of State as its president. The state Constitutional Convention of 1875 directed the General Assembly to establish a separate Department of Agriculture, Immigration, and Statistics, "under such regulations as may best promote the agricultural interests of the state...." In 1877 the new department was established by the General Assembly. Administered by a commissioner, the agency's activities were also supervised by a Board of Agriculture, which originally included seven members: the commissioner, the state geologist, the president of the University of North Carolina, the master of the state Grange, the president of the Agricultural Society, and "two agriculturalists" appointed by the governor. In 1883 board membership was altered to include a member from each of the state's nine congressional districts, chosen by the General Assembly, and in 1889 the governor was removed as ex officio chairman of the board. Responsibilities of the department included the regulation of the production and sale of commercial fertilizers, establishment of an agricultural experimental station, the administration of the state geological survey and maintenance of "the geological museum" the creation of a land and mining registry, the supervision of the state's fishing industry and commercial fisheries, the promotion of sheep husbandry, the investigation of animal diseases, and the promotion of the North Carolina Agricultural Society and its annual state fairs. Colonel Leonidas L. Polk, editor of THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER magazine and a nationally known advocate of agricultural reform, was selected by the board to serve as the first commissioner of agriculture. Subsequent commissioners were chosen by the Board of Agriculture until 1899, when the General Assembly made the office elective. In November 1900, Samuel L. Patterson became the first popularly elected commissioner of agriculture. In 1944, by ratification of the citizens, the state's constitution was amended to make the commissioner a member of the Council of State. The General Assembly of 1885 directed the Board of Agriculture "to seek proposals of donations for the establishment of an industrial school" for North Carolina, which would offer courses "in wood-work, mining, metallurgy, practical agriculture and in other such branches of industrial education...." In 1887 the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was founded, and construction was soon begun in Raleigh. The Board of Agriculture and five persons appointed by the governor were to form its governing board of trustees. In 1895 the General Assembly abolished the Board of Trustees of North Carolina A & M, and placed the institution directly under the governance of the Board of Agriculture. Two years later, during the period of Fusionist state government in North Carolina, the legislature abolished the Board of Agriculture and transferred its duties to a new board of sixteen commissioners. The General Assembly of 1899, newly reconquered by the Democrats, reestablished the Board of Agriculture and a separate board for A & M College. In 1901 the college was placed once again under the Board of Agriculture. In 1907, the college received its own separate board of trustees. From its founding, the Department of Agriculture had important duties in soliciting immigration to the Tar Heel state. Colonel Polk had hired an agent to travel to England to encourage immigration from that country. These responsibilities were removed from the department in 1905 and eventually were assumed by the federal government. In 1931 the Department of Agriculture was reorganized. The North Carolina State Fair, which had been managed previously by the State Agricultural Society, was placed under the supervision and management of the department. The number of board members was reduced to five, each appointed by the governor with the consent of the state Senate. This number was increased to ten in 1937. Terms of members were six years, and members were appointed to represent the different agricultural interests of the state. The Department of Agriculture underwent major reorganization in 1971, and the responsibilities, powers, and duties of the agency outlined by that legislation continue to define the department. The commissioner's executive authority was clearly defined. Major divisions and programs of the Department of Agriculture include Food and Drug Protection; Food Distribution; Plant Industry; Structural Pest Control; Veterinary Services; Warehouse Operations; Budget and Fiscal Management; Agricultural Statistics; Agronomic Services; Aquaculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs; Food Distribution; Standards; Legal and Public Affairs; Personnel Services; the North Carolina Maritime Museum; Research Stations and State Farm operations; and Marketing. Boards and commissions under the purview of the Department of Agriculture include: the Aquaculture Advisory Board, the Agriculture Hall of Fame, the Board of Crop Seed Development, the Gasoline and Oil Inspection Board, the Grape Growers Council, the Museum of Natural History Advisory Commission, the Plant Conservation Board, the Northeastern North Carolina Farmers Market Commission, the Pesticide Board, the Public Livestock Market Advisory Board, the Southeastern North Carolina Farmers Market Commission, the Structural Pest Control Committee, the Genetic Engineering Review Board, and the Rural Rehabilitation Corporation. REFERENCES: P.L., 1873-74, c. 135. P.L., 1876-77, c. 175, ss. 1 et seq. P.L., 1879, c. 50, s. 2. P.L., 1881, c. 274. P.L., 1881, c. 373. P.L., 1883, c. 291. P.L., 1885, c. 308, ss. 1, 3. P.L., 1887, c. 409. P.L., 1887, c. 410, ss. 1, 6. P.L., 1889, c. 468. P.L., 1891, c. 555. P.L., 1895, c. 37, ss. 2, 3. P.L., 1897, c. 85. P.L., 1899, c. 370. P.L., 1899, c. 377. P.L., 1901, c. 479, ss. 2, 4. P.L., 1901, c. 650, s. 1. P.L., 1905, c. 421. P.L., 1927, c. 209, ss. 1-3. P.L., 1931, c. 360, ss. 1, 3. P.L., 1937, c. 174, s. 1. S.L., 1943, c. 57. S.L., 1971, c. 864, ss. 1-9. Dortch, William T., John Manning, and John Henderson, eds. THE CODE OF NORTH CAROLINA. New York: Banks and Brothers, 1883. Ss. 2184, 2186, 2189, 2198, 2214, 2217. Consolidated Statutes of North Carolina (1920). Vol. 2, c. 84, ss. 4666, 4667, et seq. G.S. 143A-56 through 143A-66 [1983]. G.S. 106-1 through 106-751 [1990]. North Carolina Constitution of 1868, Art. III, sec. 17. Amendments of 1883, III, sec. 17. Lefler, Hugh T., and Albert Ray Newsome. NORTH CAROLINA: THE HISTORY OF A SOUTHERN STATE. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1954. Pp. 521-533. Office of the Secretary of State. NORTH CAROLINA MANUAL, 1989-1990. Edited by John L. Cheney, Jr. Raleigh, 1990. Pp. 531-545. %7ENOTE: As of July 1, 1997 the department's name was changed to Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. |
