Ontario. Agricultural Representative Branch

Identity area

Type of entity

Lower-level Ontario government office (type C)

Authorized form of name

Ontario. Agricultural Representative Branch

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

    • Agricultural Representative Branch

    Other form(s) of name

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1920-1956

      History

      The origins of the Agricultural Representative Branch date to 1907, when "district representatives" were first appointed within the Ontario Department of Agriculture. Until 1912 the representatives were supported jointly by the Departments of Agriculture and Education, but after that the Department of Agriculture assumed full responsibility for them. In 1918 the district representatives were retitled "agricultural representatives".

      The Agriculture Representative Branch was formally established in 1920. Prior to this time, there was no particular branch in charge of the representatives.

      In 1956, the Agricultural Representative Branch was absorbed into a newly-created Extension Branch, which consolidated the various outreach programs of the Department of Agriculture. The activities of the Agricultural Representative Branch were continued by the Agricultural Representative Service within the Extension Branch. By the late 1960's, however, the term "Agricultural Representative Service" was no longer used in descriptions of Extension Branch activities, although the Extension Branch remained responsible for the Agricultural Representatives.

      In 1982, the Extension Branch was disbanded and the Agricultural Representative were administered through a newly-created Agricultural Representatives Branch.

      Places

      Legal status

      Functions, occupations and activities

      The Agricultural Representative Branch provided agricultural and rural outreach services across Ontario through local offices manned by Agricultural Representatives. Dealing in person with local farmers and food processors, the representatives provided advisory services, education programs, and financial assistance, and called in specialists when needed. Many representatives specialized in farm economics, commodity marketing, dealing with 4H youth groups, or preparing information releases for the local media.

      Address

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

      Relationships area

      Related entity

      Ontario. Dept. of Agriculture (1888-1966)

      Identifier of related entity

      AA59

      Category of relationship

      hierarchical

      Type of relationship

      Ontario. Dept. of Agriculture controls Ontario. Agricultural Representative Branch

      Dates of relationship

      1920-1956

      Description of relationship

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Epithet

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      CA39

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

      Status

      Approved

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Annual Reports of the Department of Agriculture, 1907-1957

          Hazel I. MacTaggart, Publications of the Government of Ontario, 1901-1955.

          Canadiana Authorities, 1996-12- 24

          Maintenance notes

          Not found in Canadiana Authorities, 1996-12-24. CA has only the "Agricultural Representatives Branch", which is a separate agency from this one.

          Archivist(s):
          Paul McIlroy