National Bean Day is celebrated every year on Jan. 6. This day celebrates the bean in all sizes, shapes and colors. Illinois has close ties to beans as Decatur is known as the “soybean capital of the world.”

The soybean’s rise can be traced back to one enterprising Illinois industrialist, A.E. Staley. Staley was the first to process the soybean bean into oil and meal at his plant in Decatur in 1922, two years before the USDA even began tracking the crop.

At the time, over a third of all soybeans grown in the world were processed in Decatur. In 1955, a group of Decatur executives founded the Soy Capital Bank to trade on the nickname.

A. E. Staley became one of the largest processors of corn in the United States, second only to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), also based in Decatur. Staley also processed soybeans under a partnership agreement with ADM at its Decatur plant.

Decatur is an important commercial and agricultural distribution center, with large corn and soybean processing plants and varied industries, including the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, iron castings, control valves, automotive parts, glass, electric motors and generators, and pharmaceuticals.

Decatur is now the soybean-processing center for the country and has one of the largest processing plants in North America.