Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service was formally established in 1915 after the 1914 passing of the Smith-Lever Act and in conjunction with Texas A&M University. Originally named Texas Agricultural Extension Service, then later Texas Cooperative Extension, the name Texas AgriLife Extension Service was adopted on January 1, 2008. A&M was added to the agency name on September 1, 2012 as a result of a Texas A&M University System change to strengthen the association with Texas A&M. The primary mission of AgriLife Extension is to provide educational outreach programs and services to the citizens of Texas. In conjunction with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the Extension faculty members conduct research and bring practical applications of those research findings to the people of Texas. This led to the Texas Legislature founding the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (referred to as Texas A.M.C. for short in 1871, which was funded through the Morill Act and was Texas' first public institution of higher education. In compliance with the Morrill Act, in 1876 the Fifteenth Texas Legislature endowed the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Benefit of Colored Youth (the future Prairie View A&M University) as part of Texas A.M.C. In 1890, an amendment to the Morrill Act was passed to deal with the issue of providing steading funding to the land-grant colleges and to prohibit racial discrimination at any of the funded colleges.
The founding of the Experiment Stations was considered a big step towards improving farming, however the Experiment Station personnel soon realized that without a way to effectively communicate their findings to farmers, all their effort was for not. While they made attempts at out-reach, the results were limited and required diverting critical funds away from their core mission: research. Texas quickly took advantage of this new act, forming the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in June of the same year and associating it with Texas A.M.C. In 2001, Texas Agricultural Extension Service changed its name to Texas Cooperative Extension, feeling the new name would better reflect its mission and its focus on serving all Texans.
On September 1, 2012, following the recommendation of Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp, the agencies of the Texas A&M University System formally added "A&M" into their names. Texas AgriLife Extension Service became Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service on this date. The purpose of this effort was to create a unified branding which better associates the A&M System entities with Texas A&M University.
Organizational model
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension is the largest extension service in the US and a leading employer in the Brazos County. Together, these agents and specialists, aided by more than 150,000 volunteers, education the public through classes, publications, web sites, television series, and other outlets in the areas of agriculture, family and consumer sciences, human nutrition and health, environmental and natural resources, community development, and 4-H and youth development. Through its various programs, AgriLife Extension reaches over fifteen million Texans annually, and the Texas 4-H program is the largest in the nation and makes up one-sixth of the national enrollment numbers.