Bill Text: IL HR1551 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Recognizes the 140th anniversary of the Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 8-3)

Status: (Passed) 2017-01-10 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. John Cavaletto [HR1551 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HR1551-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives wish to recognize the 140th anniversary of the
Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign;
and
WHEREAS, The Morrow Plots were established in 1876 and are
located in the heart of the Urbana-Champaign campus of the
University of Illinois; they are the oldest continuous
agricultural research fields in the United States and are
predated only by the Rothamsted Field in England, which were
established in 1843; the site was designated a National
Historical Landmark by the federal government on September 12,
1968; and
WHEREAS, George E. Morrow, the first dean of the College of
Agriculture, and Manley Miles, a professor of agriculture, were
the visionaries behind the Morrow Plots; they planned to
conduct experiments that would yield results suggestive to the
practical farmer; and
WHEREAS, When the Morrow Plots were established, the United
States was celebrating its centennial; farm wage rates in
Illinois were $15 a month and corn sold for 30 cents a bushel;
and

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WHEREAS, In 1876, the average corn yield in Illinois was 30
bushels an acre, about one seventh of what corn yields are
today, when fewer than 40 million people lived in the United
States, over two-thirds of them on farms; and
WHEREAS, Only three of the original 10 plots remain in
place today; however, the physical size and configuration of
the three main plots have not changed since 1903; and
WHEREAS, Plot three has grown continuous corn since the
original establishment of the Morrow Plots in 1876; and
WHEREAS, The two-year crop sequence study that started in
1876 continues today in plot four, with soybeans having
replaced oats in rotation with corn during 1976; this rotation
better reflected the change in farming practices taking place
across the State of Illinois during that period; and
WHEREAS, Plot five was planted in a three-year rotation of
corn, oats with alfalfa seeding, and a forage crop of alfalfa
hay starting in 1904; and
WHEREAS, Data from the Morrow Plots represents more than
100 years of accumulated knowledge on the effect of both sound
and unsound crop management practices on corn yield; and

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WHEREAS, Most importantly, the plots have helped to
establish the importance of crop rotation and fertilizer
treatments in the modern agricultural system that has allowed
increases in yields to feed an ever-increasing world
population; and
WHEREAS, Important practices and the invaluable knowledge
discovered at the Morrow Plots concerning crop rotation, good
soil fertility, weed control, and much more have impacted
agriculture across not only the State, but the country, and the
entire world; and
WHEREAS, Respect for the historical significance of the
Morrow Plots and their importance for future research was shown
in 1966 by the University when the new undergraduate library
was built underground to prevent the negative impact of a large
shadow on the plots from a multilevel aboveground library
building - "You can't throw shade on the corn"; and
WHEREAS, Future generations will benefit from the lessons
learned at Morrow Plots and from the continuation of new,
updated, and improved long-term experiments that the Morrow
Plots have inspired; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE

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NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
commend the Morrow Plots for 140 years of continuous operation,
and we look forward to the next 140 years; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois as
a symbol of our esteem and respect.