creator:

Aaberg, Herman C. (1902- )

title:

Papers

dates:

1940-1983, n.d.

extent:

1.89 linear ft.

collection number:

MS 117

repository:

Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

access:

Open for research

publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

preferred citation:

Herman C. Aaberg, MS 117, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Herman C. Aaberg was an American Farm Bureau Federation administrator, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Iowa, county agricultural agent, and farmer. He received a two-year, non-collegiate agriculture certificate from Iowa State University in 1924.

Aaberg served as supervisor of the Lake Mills-Scarville [Iowa] Cow Testing Association from 1925-1926, then became county agricultural agent for Winnebago County, Iowa, where he completed a project to eradicate tuberculosis in livestock. Winnebago County was the first county in Iowa to be declared tuberculosis-free. In 1931, Aaberg left his position to farm in Pocahontas County, Iowa. He returned to extension work in 1932 when he was named county agricultural agent for Sioux County, Iowa. In 1933 he was named Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for the state of Iowa, a position he held until 1936. During his tenure he was in charge of the emergency corn loan program and eradication programs for chinch bugs and grasshoppers.

From 1936 to 1944, Aaberg was the Iowa representative for the Chicago Producers Commission Association. In this position he assisted the extension service and the Iowa Farm Bureau in organizing 70 county cattle feeder associations. In 1944, Aaberg joined the American Farm Bureau Federation as director of the Livestock Department (later called Marketing Research and Commodity Activities), a position he retained until he retired in 1969. In addition to his work for the Farm Bureau on livestock and commodity marketing, he was active in developing programs to eradicate livestock diseases. He served on the National Brucellosis Committee, the National Cattle Grub Committee, the National Hog Cholera Committee, and with Livestock Conservation, Inc.

For his efforts in disease eradication programs, Aaberg was honored by Livestock Conservation, Inc., the American Humane Association, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1983, he received the Iowa Farm Bureau's award for distinguished service to agriculture.

Collection description

The collection (1940-1983, n.d.) contains biographical material, livestock marketing studies, and minutes and reports of the American Farm Bureau Federation's National Livestock Advisory Committee (1940-1969). Of special note is a report, "Program of the Livestock Committee," written by John Kenneth Galbraith (1940).