By Sarah DeMaranville
The Geneseo Current
Agriculture is hard to miss in Henry County. Corn and soybean fields stretch across the county, along with cattle and hog operations. According to the USDA's 2022 Census of Agriculture, Henry County farms sold more than $508 million in agricultural products.
At the same time, Illinois continues to cite an estimate that 95% of the food consumed in the state is purchased from outside Illinois.
The two figures may seem contradictory, but agricultural production and the retail food supply are different systems.
In 2022, Henry County farmers harvested 215,672 acres of corn and 169,354 acres of soybeans. Most of those crops are commodities rather than products sold directly to consumers.
Corn may be used for livestock feed, ethanol, or food ingredients. Soybeans may become animal feed, cooking oil, or other products. Crops can also move into national and international markets.
Livestock requires additional steps before reaching consumers. Animals must be processed and meat must be inspected as required, packaged, refrigerated, and distributed.
Produce also requires storage, packaging, and transportation before reaching a grocery store. Retailers need suppliers capable of providing products in the quantities and on the schedules their stores require.
Processing, storage, and distribution are among the areas Illinois is currently targeting through its Local Food Infrastructure Grant program. The state recently awarded nearly $4 million for projects including food processing equipment, refrigerated storage, commercial kitchens, and distribution systems. Another $1.8 million is available in the next round.
Henry County had 1,267 farms covering more than 438,000 acres in 2022, according to USDA. Only 2% reported selling agricultural products directly to consumers.
There are also practical reasons food moves across state and national borders. Some products cannot be commercially grown in Illinois, while Illinois farmers sell corn, soybeans, livestock, and other agricultural products into markets well beyond the state.
The result is that a county can produce hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural products while many of the foods sold in its grocery stores originate elsewhere.
The difference largely comes down to what is produced, where it is processed, and how products move through the supply chain before reaching consumers.
