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Records of the Foreign Agricultural Service

(Record Group 166)
1901-76
1,987 cu. ft.

Table of Contents

• 166.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  
• 166.2 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL RELATIONS AND ITS PREDECESSORS 1901-58 1,085 lin. ft.
  
• 166.3 RECORDS OF THE FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE 1949-76 1,013 lin. ft.
  
• 166.4 RECORDS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCES 1922-41 6 lin. ft.
  
• 166.5 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
  
• 166.6 MACHINE-READABLE RECORDS (GENERAL)
  
• 166.7 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL) 1942-53 5,880 images
  

166.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the Department of Agriculture by Secretary's memorandum, March 10, 1953.

Predecessor Agencies:

Statistical functions:

• Section of Foreign Markets (1894-1902)
  
• Division of Foreign Markets (1902-3)
  
• Bureau of Statistics (1903-14)
  
• Bureau of Crop Estimates (1914-21)
  

Marketing functions:

• Office of Markets (1913-15)
  
• Office of Markets and Rural Organization (1915-17)
  
• Bureau of Markets (1917-21)
  

Statistical and marketing functions:

• Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates (BMCE, 1921-22)
  
• Division of Statistical and Historical Research, Bureau of Agricultural Economics (BAE, 1922-30)
  
• Foreign Agricultural Service Division (FASD), BAE (1930-39)
  
• Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations (OFAR, 1939-53)
  

Functions: Develops foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. Collects and analyzes information on world agricultural production, policy situations, and trade competition. Provides published information to U.S. farming and business interests on agricultural commodities in world trade.

Finding Aids: James E. Primas, comp., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Foreign Agricultural Service," NC 113 (May 1965).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Foreign Agricultural Service and its predecessors in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

RECORDS

RECORD TYPES	RECORD LOCATIONS	QUANTITIES
Textual Records	Washington Area	1,985 cu. ft.
Maps and Charts	College Park	111 items
Machine-Readable Records	College Park	2 data sets
Still Pictures	College Park	5,880 images

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166.2 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL RELATIONS AND
ITS PREDECESSORS
1901-58
1,085 lin. ft.

History: Section of Foreign Markets, established in the Department of Agriculture, March 20, 1894, to collect data on production, consumption, and prices of foreign farm products. Redesignated the Division of Foreign Markets, July 1, 1902, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act (32 Stat. 300), June 3, 1902. Combined with the Division of Statistics to form the Bureau of Statistics, July 1, 1903, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act (32 Stat. 1162), March 3, 1903. Bureau of Statistics redesignated Bureau of Crop Estimates, July 1, 1914, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act (38 Stat. 436), June 30, 1914.

Office of Markets established, May 16, 1913, under provisions of the Agricultural Appropriation Act (37 Stat. 854), March 4, 1913, to consolidate and expand agricultural marketing activities and to solve marketing problems. Consolidated with the Rural Organization Service, July 1, 1915, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act (38 Stat. 1111), March 4, 1915, to form the Office of Markets and Rural Organization, which became the Bureau of Markets, July 1, 1917, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act (39 Stat. 1162), March 4, 1917.

Separate Bureau of Markets and Bureau of Crop Estimates combined to form the BMCE, July 1, 1921, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act (41 Stat. 1341), March 3, 1921. BMCE merged with the Office of Farm Management and Farm Economics, July 1, 1922, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act of May 11, 1922, to form the BAE.

BAE Division of Statistical and Historical Research received and analyzed reports relating to foreign agriculture, 1922-30. Responsibility transferred in 1930 to FASD, created to administer the Foreign Agricultural Service, established in BAE by an act of June 5, 1930 (46 Stat. 497), and composed of agricultural attaches and consular officers stationed abroad.

Foreign Agricultural Service transferred to the Department of State by Reorganization Plan No. II of 1939, effective July 1, 1939. Remaining personnel of the FASD and its economic research functions and records designated the OFAR by Secretary of Agriculture's memorandum of November 30, 1938, effective June 30, 1939. Redesignated Foreign Agricultural Service, 1953. SEE 166.1.

Textual Records: Correspondence, 1942-49. Narrative reports from agricultural attaches, consular officers, agricultural commissioners, and special agents in foreign countries, 1904-54. Special reports by agricultural attaches covering foreign agricultural production, trade, competition, and policy situations affecting U.S. agriculture, 1931-58. Reports concerning forestry and forest products, 1901-41; and entomology and quarantine, 1911-39. Statistical compilations of agricultural commodities imported and exported by the United States, 1930-41. Records relating to the Italian land utilization program, 1933. Correspondence, field reports, and special studies received from field offices in the Union of South Africa and in Sydney, Australia, 1931-33. Reports of the Technical Collaboration Branch relating to agricultural assistance programs in Latin America, 1942-53. Records concerning tariff negotiations, 1947-51.

Maps (111 items): Atlases compiled by the Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations, Agricultural Geography of the Philippine Islands, A Graphic Summary, 1945 (45 items), and Agricultural Geography of Europe and the Near East, 1948 (66 items), containing maps showing climate, land elevation, soils, crops, livestock, and population.

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166.3 RECORDS OF THE FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE
1949-76
1,013 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Central correspondence, 1949-72. Narrative reports from agricultural attaches, consular officers, and special agents in foreign countries, 1955-70. Correspondence, memorandums, and reports concerning barter and stockpiling, 1962- 64.

Machine-Readable Records (2 data sets): Information prepared by the Reports and Statistics Division of the Office of the Assistant Administrator for Foreign Commodity Analysis, documenting monthly import and export data, 1967-76, with supporting documentation.

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166.4 RECORDS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCES
1922-41
6 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Correspondence, reports, and other records concerning the work of the International Institute of Agriculture, Rome, Italy. Records relating to Department of Agriculture participation in international conferences, congresses, and exhibitions, 1922-41.

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166.5 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)

SEE Maps UNDER 166.2.

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166.6 MACHINE-READABLE RECORDS (GENERAL)

SEE UNDER 166.3.

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166.7 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1942-53
5,880 images

Photographic Negatives: Agricultural practices in Central and South America, the Caribbean, west and east Asia, and Africa, 1942-52 (G, M; 5,130 images). Agricultural practices and products, urban and rural life, cultural activities, ethnic groups, industry, trade, and transportation in Thailand, 1951-53 (T, 750 images).

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Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.

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