Liberty Hyde Bailey was an influential leader of the Country Life Movement in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He founded Cornell University's College of Agriculture and was its first dean. In 1908 President Teddy Roosevelt selected Prof. Bailey to chair a National Commission on Country Life.The 1909 Report of the Commission on Country Life was influential in the development of many institutions that we know today. It led to the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 which created the Cooperative Extension Service. It profoundly affected the evolution of 4-H. And it led to the creation of the Farm Credit System in 1916.
Much of Prof. Bailey's work built on the foundation of the land grant university system—see the earlier post about Justin Smith Morrill. Cornell University is New York's land grant university. It has both a Morrill Hall and a Bailey Hall.
Cornell further honors Prof. Bailey with the Liberty Hyde Bailey Leadership Society. Several northeast Farm Credit employees are members of this society, including Geoff Yates of Yankee Farm Credit. Many employees of northeast Farm Credit are graduates of Cornell University, including Yankee's Geoff Yates, Loren Petzoldt, Kelly Langmaid and Clara Hall.
The influence of Cornell University on Farm Credit is strong and it began with Liberty Hyde Bailey.
