Agricultural Experiment & UI Extension Publications

About the Collection

This collection contains research publications produced by the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station and University of Idaho Extension Service, spanning more than 130 years. While some contemporary publication can be found here, the digital collection is primarily intended to make historical publications accessible. The Library’s Special Collections and Archives department preserves physical copies of nearly all publications since 1895, and makes them available in digital format as time allows.

Active and up-to-date documents are published at Extension Publications on VERSO. VERSO is the University of Idaho’s Research Information Management system and functions as an Institutional Repository (IR). Please note that as this collection is updated from VERSO annually, some documents may be superseded, edited, and discontinued. More information about Special Collections’ physical holdings of historic Extension publications is available in the finding aid.

For current publication series, please visit their collection pages on VERSO:

• Extension Bulletin Series (BUL)
• Educational Video Series (EVS)
• Extension Curricula Series (ECS)
• Research Bulletin Series (RES)
• Current Information Series (CIS)
• University of Idaho Extension (VERSO research unit)

University of Idaho Extension

The University of Idaho was established under the Morrill Act of 1862. Land-grant colleges and universities, so named for the mechanism that the federal government used to finance higher education institutions like U of I, were charged with teaching “such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts.”

The University of Idaho Board of Regents established the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Idaho in 1892 following the passage of the federal Hatch Act (1887). That legislation encouraged the creation of agricultural experiment stations at land-grant colleges and universities. In addition to advancing agricultural research, the act required the publishing of bulletins or reports of progress on station research. The Hatch Act allocated $15,000 per year for conducting investigations and experiments and printing and distributing the results to Idaho’s producers.

The University of Idaho College of Agriculture began establishing an Extension program in southern Idaho in 1910. In 1914, the federal Smith-Lever Act authorized cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics between the state land-grant institutions and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Extension’s role was to diffuse practical research-based information to people not attending college through instruction and practical demonstrations. Over the years, the Extension’s mandate grew to include gardening, natural resources, youth development, and community development.

Extension Publishing

In an effort to share valuable research information with a broad public, both Agricultural Experiment Stations and Extension have produced important bulletin series that cover topics as diverse as alkaline soils, meal planning, and vaccines for cattle. Some publications were connected to national events, like World War II, and were therefore limited in their run. Other publications covered topics of sustained importance to Idahoans, like identification and management of noxious weeds. Many bulletins have been updated repeatedly by University of Idaho faculty and research collaborators. Today, the department of Extension Publishing is responsible for disseminating the research of both services.

By the mid-1990s, Experiment Station and Extension publications were published on the Internet in PDF format as well as in print. In 2010, the vast majority of publications were available only online, for free access by all.

-Written by Diane Noel, May 2011; Edited April 2026

Additional Resources

Idaho Resources

• University of Idaho Extension Home
• University of Idaho Extension publications on VERSO
• University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
• Idaho State Department of Agriculture

Related Resources

For many decades, University of Idaho AES and Extension faculty have collaborated with colleagues at Washington State University and Oregon State University to conduct regional research and share information across the Pacific Northwest.

• The National Agricultural Library Collections
• Washington State University Extension publications
• Oregon State University Extension publications
• Oregon State University Extension Service: 100 Years of Putting Knowledge to Work
• Oregon Small Farms, hosted by Oregon State University Extension Service