Agriculture has always required us to think in two timeframes at once.

Farmers have to make decisions for the season in front of them—what to plant, where to invest, how to manage risk and how to protect profitability. But the decisions we make today will also influence the future—five, 10 and even 50 years down the road.

Few places illustrate that better than the Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

I had the opportunity to visit the plots this summer as they mark 150 growing seasons. Established in 1876, they are the oldest agricultural research plots in the United States and among the longest-running agricultural experiments in the world.

What struck me most wasn’t simply their age. It was how much of what Illinois farmers now consider fundamental was once an unanswered question.

Does crop rotation really improve yields? Does fertilizer pay? How much difference can improved genetics make?

Today, we know the answers. But generations ago, farmers and researchers didn’t. It took years of planting, harvesting, measuring and learning to build the body of knowledge we rely on today.

That is an important reminder for agriculture in 2026.

We are still asking big questions. How can we produce more while using resources more efficiently? How do we build healthier, more resilient soils without sacrificing profitability? How will new technologies change the way we farm? How do we prepare for changing markets, weather and production challenges we can’t fully anticipate?

We may have better technology and more information at our fingertips than farmers did in 1876, but the basic responsibility hasn’t changed: keep asking questions, keep testing ideas and keep building knowledge that farmers can use.

That is one reason research remains so important to the Illinois Soybean Association. Our job isn’t simply to invest in interesting ideas. It’s to help turn research into practical value for Illinois soybean farmers—better information, better tools and ultimately better decisions on the farm.

The Morrow Plots also demonstrate something that can be difficult to appreciate in an industry measured in growing seasons: meaningful progress takes commitment.

Andrew Margenot, Professor of Soil Science at the University of Illinois and current director of the Morrow Plots, described his responsibility as “taking the baton from a long line of people.” I think that’s a fitting description for agriculture itself.

None of us starts from scratch. Today’s farmers benefit from generations of people who were willing to experiment, take risks, share what they learned and leave agriculture better than they found it. Our responsibility is to do the same for the generation that follows us.

That doesn’t mean holding tightly to the way things have always been done. In fact, the legacy of the Morrow Plots suggests exactly the opposite.

The University is now developing the Alma Mater Plots, a large-scale crop experiment area designed to tackle the kinds of practical questions facing modern agriculture. I like that idea because it captures what Illinois agriculture does best: honor what came before without being afraid to build what comes next.

As we recognize 150 years of the Morrow Plots, their greatest lesson may not be found in any single research finding. It is the value of curiosity, patience and a willingness to invest in answers we may not fully benefit from ourselves.

Illinois farmers inherited 150 years of hard-won knowledge about what this land can do. What we learn, build and invest in today will become someone else’s inheritance.