Agricultural innovation requires more than ideas — it demands acres of land, barns full of livestock, fleets of equipment, and teams of specialists who keep it all running. Few research enterprises are as complex, costly, or foundational as agriculture.
For nearly 140 years, the Hatch Act of 1887 has helped shoulder that burden, providing stable federal funding that fuels discovery across the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Specifically, the Hatch Act provided for the establishment of agricultural experiment stations at the nation’s land-grant universities, where scientists studied and recommended new practices to address farming challenges of the day. But because the statute prioritized and promised continued funding, Hatch funds still empower College of ACES researchers to develop solutions for farmers, their families, rural communities, and beyond.
“Hatch funds are crucial to everything we do, but few people understand what they are or how deeply they sustain our research enterprise,” said Rodney Johnson, associate dean of research and director of the agricultural experiment station in the College of ACES. “We work very closely with stakeholders, farmers, and the public to ensure federal Hatch dollars invest in discoveries that truly make a difference.”
Hatch funding is matched 1:1, at minimum, by the state. The federal allocation varies between state land-grant institutions and may differ slightly year to year. Institutions also differ in the way they portion out Hatch funds, with many investing in faculty salaries or funding operations on university farm properties.
At about $7.2 million each year, Hatch dollars make up a fraction of ACES’ annual research expenditures, which in 2025 exceeded $88.5 million. However, that steady stream of support to the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station enables direct investments in people and projects that deliver on the land-grant mission. And in the context of declining agricultural research funding, Hatch funding is more important than ever.
Read the full article from College of ACES
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.