Tuesday, March 18th is National Agriculture Day! While every state across the country will celebrate, this day holds special significance in the State of Illinois. With over 70,000 farms across the state, Illinois has a rich and long agricultural history.
Illinois and its prairie attracted many immigrants from its opening in the early 1800s to the mid- and late-nineteenth century. The immigrants came from other parts of the United States and from several countries in Europe. These farmers who started on the ground floor, worked and grew their farms over the years, slowly turning Illinois into a state on the rise in the 1800s. This includes farms like Walker Farms, the oldest farm on record in Illinois. Settled in 1786 in Crawford County, Walker Farms is still running strong. Today, several acres of Walker Farms are irrigated. They raise corn, soybeans and wheat. During the last half of the nineteenth century, the farms that were settled in southern and western Illinois developed more fully and the northern part of the state rapidly developed. Mechanization started to appear on larger farms and among groups who shared the cost of machinery.
Illinois is a leading producer of soybeans, corn and swine. The state's climate and varied soil types enable farmers to grow and raise many other agricultural commodities, including cattle, wheat, oats, sorghum, hay, sheep, poultry, fruits and vegetables. Illinois also produces several specialty crops, such as buckwheat, horseradish, ostriches, fish and Christmas trees. Illinois farmland covers 27 million acres - about 75 percent of the state's total land area.
With over 75,000 farm operators and nearly a million employed by the food and fiber industry, agriculture in the state of Illinois is big business. Marketing of Illinois' agricultural products generates more than $51.1 billion annually. Crops account for 40 percent of that total. Illinois ranks fifth nationally in the export of agricultural products with $10.6 billion worth of goods shipped to other countries.
