Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry

• Faculty of Agriculture

The Faculty of Agriculture was established in 1915. Henry Marshall Tory, the first president of the University of Alberta, petitioned the United Farmers of Alberta to support the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture in Edmonton, rather than have it be a satellite campus in Calgary, with the argument that the Faculty of Agriculture could benefit from being in close proximity to other scientific research happening at the university in Edmonton. The Faculty of Agriculture began with two staff, sixteen students, and E.A. Howes as its first Dean. It consisted of the Department of Animal Husbandry, the Department of Horticulture, and the Department of Field Husbandry. The Department of Household Economics was founded in 1918, and the Department of Soils in 1919.

The return of soldiers following World War I bolstered the Faculty of Agriculture’s enrollment and led to expansion. In 1918, 110 First World War veterans enrolled in the Faculty of Agriculture under a federal program that paid their tuition fees. The Faculty also grew physically, through the purchase in 1920 of 380 acres of land in what is today known as South Campus. The research farm was expanded with new barns, facilities, and experimental herds of livestock. Throughout the 1920s, several new departments were created, including the Department of Dairying, Department of Entomology, and Department of Poultry Husbandry.

The University of Alberta strongly supported the growth of the Faculty of Agriculture during the post-war period. The Faculty gained a reputation for outstanding research, including the study of nutrition for sheep, swine, and beef cattle, as well as plant breeding, soil testing and ecology. Staff in the newly formed Department of Entomology helped to lead efforts in 1922 to control grasshoppers threatening crops in Southern Alberta.

In 1929, the Breton Plots were established near the village of Breton, Alberta. These plots were established to research how to best farm the wooded soil belt, which has soils low in organic material and are moderately acidic. They continue to be the only research plots on Grey Luvisols in Canada. Today they are recognized as an Alberta Registered Historic Resource.

Throughout the 1930s, the Faculty of Agriculture continued to grow. In 1930, they purchased an additional 240 acres adjacent to the South Campus land. Several buildings were moved from the south side of the UofA campus to this new location, as well as new buildings constructed. The new campus had barns, a grain elevator, a judging pavilion, an implement shed, and nine cottages for farm staff. The Faculty was a resource to farmers of practical advice and training through bulletins, leaflets, extension courses, and radio programs. They also were a research department that was becoming a world leader in areas such as soil science.

Throughout World War II, the Faculty of Agriculture continued to have modest growth. The Department of Animal Science and the Department of Plant Science were formed through amalgamation of other departments. Government programs supporting veterans in attending university once again led to an admission boom in the post-war period.

In 1954, a new Agriculture Building was built on North Campus. The Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management was created in 1961. Cold war tensions led to the War Supplies Agency of Canada partnering with Dean Bentley and the Faculty of Agriculture in 1963 to be part of Food Coordination in event of a nuclear disaster.

With the establishment of the Department of Forest Science in 1971, the Faculty changed its name to the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. The School of Household Economics, which had gained a new building in 1965, became the Faculty of Home Economics in 1976. This faculty later merged with the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry in 1995 and became the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics.

Deans: 1915-1940 Ernest Albert Howes; 1940-1941 Robert Newton; 1941-1951 Robert David Sinclair; 1951-1959 Arthur Gilbert McCalla; 1959-1968 C. Fred Bentley; 1968-1975 Fenton Vincent MacHardy; 1975-1983 John Bowland; 1983-1988 Roy Torgny Berg; 1988- Edward W. Tyrchniewicz.

Updated by A.A. on 10 Nov. 2022

https://www.ualberta.ca/agriculture-life-environment-sciences/about/history/index.html (accessed 10 Nov. 2022)

https://bretonplots.ualberta.ca/classical-plots/ (accessed 20 Dec. 2021)

https://www-webofscience-com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000595593400002?SID=8Ca6tcSQNsbCbdPzyIE Leonard A. Leskiw et al. "Soil science at the University of Alberta: a century of service to science and society," Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 100(4), 319-343, (9 July 2020)

https://rri.ualberta.ca/about-us/our-facilities/roy-berg-kinsella-research-ranch/ (accessed 20 Dec. 2021)