Agriculture Engineering History Review

Agriculture and environmental engineering are important disciplines, especially in this era of climate change and the ever-increasing population of the world. Tracing the history of agricultural engineering education at the college level provides insight into its development in the early 20th Century and beyond. North Carolina State University is typical of other American universities in this regard, and as such is the focus of this article.

Growing from Humble Beginnings North Carolina State University created its first agricultural engineering teaching program in 1920, when the university was known as the North Carolina College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. A four-year course in the discipline actually attracted no students for the first few years, so its beginnings were definitely very humble. The first graduate from the nascent program earned a B.S. in Agriculture (no Engineering) in 1935. Soon afterwards, a fully fledged agricultural engineering degree program saw its first graduate in 1938. Nearly simultaneously, agricultural research efforts began at the college in 1937. An actual Agricultural Engineering Department saw its genesis in 1940, as the program separated from the Agronomy Department where it had resided since its beginnings.

An Expanding Program’s New Lab Space Over the 40s and 50s, the Agricultural Engineering program at North Carolina State continued to grow, taking advantage of an eventual 95,000 square foot facility called Weaver Labs. The university began offering a Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering in 1957. In 1965, the department changed its name to Biological and Agricultural Engineering, reflecting the growing importance of biology as it relates to the practice of agriculture. It was the first department in the United States to do so. Currently, Biological Engineering is the only undergraduate program offered, but a significant number of agricultural courses are still part of the coursework, along with environmental engineering and bioprocessing/food classes. If the history of agricultural engineering education, with its evolution to encompass biological and environmental disciplines, inspires use to further a career in this area, talk to the experts at The Talley Group.

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