Illinois Farmer Leslie Miller Helped Change How Corn Is Grown

At the McLean County Museum of History’s farm exhibit, co-curator Don Meyer shares the story of an Illinois farmer whose innovation helped transform modern corn production.

Leslie Miller was one of the first farmers in Illinois to experiment with anhydrous ammonia as a nitrogen source — a practice that would eventually become a cornerstone of corn production.

“Today we know that nitrogen is critical for the growth of corn production,” Meyer explains. “But nitrogen was hard to get applied to the fields, and it was expensive.”

After seeing anhydrous ammonia being used on cotton farms in Louisiana, Miller wondered if the same technology could help Illinois farmers grow more corn. He returned home and built his own setup, using a propane tank mounted to the back of his tractor to demonstrate injecting anhydrous ammonia into a cornfield.

For Miller’s son, Ron, the impact of that innovation was significant.

“Up until that point, the only nitrogen basically was put on corn in the early years was manure,” Ron said. “That kind of revolutionized the corn industry when nitrogen solutions, anhydrous was the first, and then liquid nitrogen, because corn needs quite a bit of nitrogen to grow.”

The adoption of nitrogen fertilizer, along with advances in hybrid seed technology, helped drive a dramatic increase in corn yields. Ron explained that yields grew from roughly 40–50 bushels per acre to 150 bushels per acre and beyond, eventually reaching the yields farmers see today.

Modern farmers have continued building on those early innovations with technology that allows them to apply nutrients more precisely than ever before. Today, farmers use soil testing, mapping technology and data to apply nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium only where and when the crop needs it.

“We’re actually feeding the crop what it needs, when it needs it,” Ron said. “We don’t try to over-apply because it’s inefficient, wasteful, and we can’t afford it with the tight margins that we’re working with now.”

Leslie Miller passed away in 2006, but his willingness to try something new helped pave the way for the efficient, technology-driven farming practices used across Illinois today. His story is one example of how farmers have long been innovators, finding new ways to improve productivity while caring for their land and resources.