"A prosperous and productive agriculture is necessary to national and world peace and prosperity." This statement by Clinton Anderson, Secretary of Agriculture from 1945-1948, encapsulates the idea of chemurgy, the utilization of scientific research to discover new uses for agricultural surplus. In the late 1920s, chemurgists began looking at farm goods as raw materials for industry, not just as food. A study of the farm crisis of the 1920s and 1930s, the growth of the chemurgy movement, and current advancements in research will show that the chemurgists caused innovative change in agriculture and industry which greatly impacts the world today. (Contains 73 notes.)