Farm and Home Week records

Farm and Home Week began in January, 1901 as a one week series of day-long lectures and roundtable discussions for farmers interested in agricultural problems, issues and innovations. Sessions were lead by University faculty drawn from departments in the College of Agriculture and later from Agricultural Extension. In 1903, the event name was formalized to Short Course for Farmers. In 1909, farm women were invited to attend, and in 1934 the event name was changed to Farmers and Homemakers Short Course. The format for the week standardized in 1915 into multiple one-week courses offered at University Farm in St Paul. The courses were held in January every year, except for postponements in 1919 (due to the influenza epidemic) and in 1946 (due to a housing shortage near the campus).

Farm and Home Week was extremely popular; for farmers and their families, it was an opportunity to socialize and a chance for a winter vacation in the Twin Cities. Between 1914 and 1915, when the first one week course was established, attendance shot from 627 to 1251. Subsidized room, board and transportation was made available in the 1920s and evening mixers and banquets proliferated in the 1930s. By the late 1950s, with improvements in rural transportation and communications, attendance had begun to decline: the last Farm and Home Week was held in 1962.