It is declared to be in the public interest that North Carolina farmers producing agricultural products of all kinds, including cotton, tobacco, peanuts, soybeans, potatoes, vegetables, berries, fruits, livestock, livestock products, poultry and turkeys, and any other agricultural products having domestic and/or foreign markets, be permitted to act jointly in cooperation with each other in encouraging an expanding program of agricultural research and the dissemination of agricultural research findings. (1951, c. 827, s. 1.)