Founded in 1868, the Cowichan Agricultural Society (CAS) is one of the oldest societies in British Columbia. In 1963, CAS merged with the Cowichan Farmers' Institute (1914). The primary purpose of the society in its earliest days was to provide support to new agricultural settlers in the form of a "social club." Responsibilities have included oversight of the Valley's Dynamite magazine, the creation of programs such as the Island's own Artificial Insemination Program, administration of the provincially-funded Crop Protection Fencing Program, and the generation of the now-independent Island Farmers' Alliance.