Bill Text: IL HR1551 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
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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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to recognize the 140th anniversary of the | ||||||
4 | Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; | ||||||
5 | and
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6 | WHEREAS, The Morrow Plots were established in 1876 and are | ||||||
7 | located in the heart of the
Urbana-Champaign campus of the | ||||||
8 | University of Illinois; they are the oldest continuous
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9 | agricultural research fields in the United States and are | ||||||
10 | predated only by the Rothamsted Field in
England, which were | ||||||
11 | established in 1843; the site was designated a National | ||||||
12 | Historical
Landmark by the federal government on September 12, | ||||||
13 | 1968; and
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14 | WHEREAS, George E. Morrow, the first dean of the College of | ||||||
15 | Agriculture, and Manley Miles,
a professor of agriculture, were | ||||||
16 | the visionaries behind the Morrow Plots; they planned to | ||||||
17 | conduct
experiments that would yield results suggestive to the | ||||||
18 | practical farmer; and
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19 | WHEREAS, When the Morrow Plots were established, the United | ||||||
20 | States was celebrating its
centennial; farm wage rates in | ||||||
21 | Illinois were $15 a month and corn sold for 30 cents a bushel; | ||||||
22 | and
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1 | WHEREAS, In 1876, the average corn yield in Illinois was 30 | ||||||
2 | bushels an acre, about one seventh of
what corn yields are | ||||||
3 | today, when fewer than 40 million people lived in the United | ||||||
4 | States, over two-thirds
of them on farms; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Only three of the original 10 plots remain in | ||||||
6 | place today; however, the physical size
and configuration of | ||||||
7 | the three main plots have not changed since 1903; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Plot three has grown continuous corn since the | ||||||
9 | original establishment of the
Morrow Plots in 1876; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The two-year crop sequence study that started in | ||||||
11 | 1876 continues today in plot four,
with soybeans having | ||||||
12 | replaced oats in rotation with corn during 1976; this rotation | ||||||
13 | better
reflected the change in farming practices taking place | ||||||
14 | across the State of Illinois during that
period; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Plot five was planted in a three-year rotation of | ||||||
16 | corn, oats with alfalfa seeding, and
a forage crop of alfalfa | ||||||
17 | hay starting in 1904; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Data from the Morrow Plots represents more than | ||||||
19 | 100 years of accumulated
knowledge on the effect of both sound | ||||||
20 | and unsound crop management practices on corn yield; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Most importantly, the plots have helped to | ||||||
2 | establish the importance of crop rotation
and fertilizer | ||||||
3 | treatments in the modern agricultural system that has allowed | ||||||
4 | increases in yields to feed an ever-increasing world | ||||||
5 | population; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Important practices and the invaluable knowledge | ||||||
7 | discovered at the Morrow Plots
concerning crop rotation, good | ||||||
8 | soil fertility, weed control, and much more have impacted
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9 | agriculture across not only the State, but the country, and the | ||||||
10 | entire world; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Respect for the historical significance of the | ||||||
12 | Morrow Plots and their importance for
future research was shown | ||||||
13 | in 1966 by the University when the new undergraduate library | ||||||
14 | was
built underground to prevent the negative impact of a large | ||||||
15 | shadow on the plots from a multilevel
aboveground library | ||||||
16 | building - "You can't throw shade on the corn"; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Future generations will benefit from the lessons | ||||||
18 | learned at Morrow Plots and from
the continuation of new, | ||||||
19 | updated, and improved long-term experiments that the Morrow | ||||||
20 | Plots
have inspired; therefore, be it
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21 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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1 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
2 | commend the Morrow Plots for 140
years of continuous operation, | ||||||
3 | and we look forward to the next 140 years; and be it further
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4 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
5 | presented to the Morrow Plots at the University of
Illinois as | ||||||
6 | a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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