Authorized by the federal Hatch Act in 1887, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is the first and oldest Agricultural Experiment Station in the nation. The founder was Professor Samuel Johnson, a Yale University Analytical Chemist. While traveling in Europe, he had observed how such stations worked and how beneficial they were for farmers. He was impressed with the way scientists worked with farmers to identify and solve production problems and thought American farmers should have the same resources.

In 1875, Professor Johnson petitioned the Connecticut State Legislature which passed a statute authorizing the Station and allocated a two-year budget of $2400. Initially headquartered in Wesleyan University, then the Sheffield School of Science at Yale, CAES established its New Haven campus in 1882.

Governor Ned Lamont proclaimed: "For a century and a half, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has provided research and discoveries that are fueling our state's agricultural industry, which generates billions for our economy, employs thousands, and is responsible for producing the food that keeps Connecticut running. We are committed to supporting Connecticut farmers and agricultural products they grow, and one of the many ways we do that is through the work of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Connecticut is the home of the very first Agricultural Experiment Station in the country, and I wish this office many more years of success to come."