Illinois Ag Across Time: Episode 1

In honor of America's 250th Anniversary.

For 250 years, America has been fed, shaped, and strengthened by its farmers. As our nation marks this milestone, it's worth pausing to remember that the story of America is, in so many ways, the story of the land and the families who worked it.

Illinois sits at the heart of that story. From the rich black soil of the prairie to the grain elevators that dot the horizon, Illinois agriculture has helped feed not just a nation, but a world.

Corn, in particular, tells the story of American ingenuity and perseverance. What began as hand-planted rows on breaking prairie sod has evolved into a sophisticated, technology-driven enterprise that still depends, at its core, on farm families who love the land. Those families across generations built rural communities, sustained small towns, and quietly powered an economy that made America great.

Illinois Ag Across Time is a new video series created in honor of America's 250th anniversary. Through the voices of the people who lived it, studied it, and preserved it, we'll trace nearly 200 years of agricultural history.  We'll dive into the tools, the families, the hardships, and the innovations that define farming in Illinois.

Our guide for the first chapters of this journey is Don Meyer, a man whose life has been devoted to agriculture in McLean County and beyond.

Getting to Know Don Meyer

Don Meyer grew up in Gridley, Illinois, earned his degree from Illinois State University and his master's from the University of Illinois, and spent the better part of his career making sure agriculture thrived in McLean County. He taught high school agriculture for six years in Lexington, then served 27 years as the Extension Advisor for Agriculture and County Director for Extension in McLean County. After retiring, he spent nine more years teaching full time in the Agriculture Department at Illinois State University.

Don also played a central role in building the agricultural exhibit at the McLean County Museum of History working to tell the 200-year story of farming in the county through the voices of the farmers themselves.

He knows this land. He knows these families. And he knows this history.

The Changing Face of McLean County Farms

In the first episode of Illinois Ag Across Time, Don Meyer walks us through one of the most striking visual stories in McLean County agricultural history: how the number of farms and the size of farms have moved in opposite directions over the past 200 years and what that means for the future of farming.

At its peak in the late 1800s, McLean County was home to just over 5,000 individual farm units. Since then, the number of farms has steadily declined  -- a trend that reflects one of agriculture's defining shifts: fewer people are growing the crops.

But that's only half the picture. As farm numbers dropped, average farm size grew. The reason? Mechanization and efficiency. As farmers gained access to better equipment (and eventually GPS-guided tractors, precision planters, and modern combines) they could manage more acres with less labor. The two trend lines moving in opposite directions tell the story of 200 years of replacing labor with machinery and technology.

Don is quick to point out that this doesn't mean agriculture employs fewer people overall. Behind every large farm operation today is an entire network of engineers, technologists, equipment manufacturers, and agribusiness professionals who make modern farming possible -  even if they're not living on the farm itself.

It's a story of evolution, not disappearance and it's just beginning. Watch full episode below.

Illinois Ag Across Time is a video series created in honor of America's 250th Anniversary, tracing nearly 200 years of agricultural history through the people who lived it. This video was filmed in McLean County Museum of History based on their Farming in the Great Corn Belt exhibit which was co-curated by Don Meyer and Susan K. Hartzold.