You may have seen recent news that Illinois is home to the tallest cow in the US. At 6'4", Blosom surpassed the average 5' height for Holsteins. She never had a calf, so she never produced milk and resides as a happy family pet.

What you may not know is that dairying in Illinois includes 1,117 dairy farmers and 90 processing plants, whose industry generates $8 billion a year for the Illinois economy and 11,600 Illinois jobs.

There is a good chance the pumpkins you carve, use as ornamental fall decorations or as pie filling for your holiday treats came from Central Illinois. 

Illinois leads the nation in pumpkin production, with a swath of land near Peoria producing most of the state’s pumpkin crop. Morton, Illinois is commonly referred to as the “Pumpkin Capital of the World”, hosting the annual Morton Pumpkin Festival and home to a Libby's pumpkin processing plant.

Rows of green soybeans are a common sight in the fertile farm fields of Illinois. The typically three-foot high crop breaks up the sometimes monotonous rows of corn fields that Illinois is most famous for.

While Illinois produces significantly more corn per year, the state ranks first in the country in annual soybean production.

Even if you’re surrounded by soybean fields, you may not be aware of how often you come in contact with Illinois-grown soybeans.

While Chicago is known as the Windy City, the entire state of Illinois is harnessing the natural power of the wind to produce clean energy and reduce pollution. The first wind farm in Illinois, Mendota Hills near Paw Paw, was activated in 2003. In the decade since this first installation, wind energy capacity in Illinois showed extraordinary growth. Illinois law pushed this wind innovation. By 2025, under the Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard, 25 percent of Illinois electricity must come from renewable sources. In 2013, wind energy accounted for 4.7 percent of all electric generation in Illinois, enough energy to power the equivalent of 880,000 homes.