We commonly live on gravel roads or unstriped stretches of blacktop and enjoy unobstructed views of sunsets and starry night skies. Neighbors may live a mile apart. Cows outnumber people in some townships, and you’ll drive 25 miles from my small Illinois farming town without catching a red light.
Meanwhile, the corn and soybeans we grow out here fuel cars and trucks across the United States. Our farm products provide feed for animal protein or ingredients for most foods in your pantry. And Illinois’ top crops of corn and soybeans reach markets around the globe, bringing international significance to my 600-resident hometown.
Illinois farms may socially detach from the hubbub of the world, but the crops Illinois farm families grow prove globally connected and domestically imperative.
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Serving Foreign Markets
Our state’s river system not only defines Illinois’ shape but its role as an artery to the world for corn and soybeans grown in America’s heartland. One in three rows of corn grown in Illinois exports to Mexico, Japan, Colombia, China, Canada and other foreign countries. Greater yet, nearly 60% of Illinois soybeans export to 82 nations, primarily via the river system.
Fueling America’s Fleet
Given our farm’s vicinity to ethanol production plants, nearly all our farm’s corn produces the biofuel and a co-product feed for livestock. Ethanol uses 27% of Illinois corn to make this home-grown fuel that improves our nation’s energy independence while lowering carbon emissions. Likewise, soybeans serve as feedstock for biodiesel, which powers our farm’s tractors, trucks and construction equipment. Many municipalities, including Chicago, use biodiesel in their government vehicles, school buses and public transit.
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Feeding the Globe
The natural high-protein content of soybeans makes it a top feed for chickens, turkeys and pigs and a top food ingredient for nutrition bars, high-protein shakes, plant-based burgers and dairy alternatives. Soybean oil, a common vegetable oil, is handily the most widely used cooking oil in the United States. Meanwhile, corn ranks as the largest feed grain in the U.S. livestock industry, providing a primary energy source to produce high-quality beef, pork and poultry products. Ingredients of corn oil, meal, syrups and starches make cereals and granola bars, sweeten beverages, and produce the corn tortilla chips that form the foundation of my favorite appetizer: nachos.
In our small farming town, a water tower and a series of silver grain storage bins form the skyline. Our life is undoubtedly remote at first glance but has a vast reach, impacting communities and countries through the journey of our crops.
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About the Author: Joanie Stiers farms with her family in west-central Illinois, raising corn, soybeans, hay, beef cattle, backyard chickens and farm kids.
