Focusing on the extent and quality of services rendered to Negro rural families by the agencies of the Department of Agriculture, this study was conducted in counties where Negroes formed a significant portion of the varying potential clientele of the agencies. Research techniques used in the study included conferences and interviews with program administrators and experts from private and state universities in the fields of agricultural economics, extension education, statistics, demography, and public administration; staff field trips; review and evaluation of program material; and statistical analyses of service data. Findings related to the Cooperative Extension Service (CES), the Farmers Home Administration (FHA), the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) include: (1) that in the CES many thousands of Negro farmers are denied access to services provided to white farmers which would help them to diversify, increase production, achieve adequate farming operations or train for off-farm employment; (2) that Negroes, with few exceptions, are not appointed as full members to county committees by the FHA but are confined to a newly created category of special alternate membership; (3) that Negroes in southern counties generally receive less service from the SCS than whites, except in those counties where Negroes are employed as professionals; and (4) that there were no Negroes among the almost 5,000 ASCS county committeemen in 11 Southern States. (HBC)