Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Central Illinois Soybean fields

Central Illinois is quite the producer of soybeans. I'm sure any locals that see this blog are probably rolling their eyes at this blog post, since either soybean fields or corn fields are everywhere you look--big deal!

And that includes three sides of my farm. The farmer rotates his crops and this year we are surrounded by soybeans. Last year it was corn. Here's a view of the eastern back of the property looking south. I think the luscious green is quite pretty surrounding us.


Here's that same corner looking east. This photo was take a couple of weeks ago. Several rows of short sunflowers can be seen on the left (complete with some weeds). That white building in the distance is our local Nestle plant, where they make non-dairy coffee creamer.



Here is the opposite corner of the property facing west.



And this last view is looking south east. Right now the soybeans are about forty seven inches tall and are just now forming the fuzzy bean pods. It will be another month or two before soybeans are harvested. Tonight we caught a deer running from our sunflowers that are now blooming and the deer ran south through the bean field. I did not realize deer were drawn to the sunflowers, but a quick google search confirmed that they are!

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5 comments:

Kyle Leach said...

John it just takes your breath away. What a beautiful view...from every direction. I'm green with envy!

Larry Ohio said...

I'm very happy to see the soybeans. Last year we drove from Chicagoland to Dixon, IL to visit Greg's brother. The whole way all I saw were corn fields. Upwards of 95%, and that's no exaggeration. In Ohio there's a good mix of corn, beans, and wheat. But based on my trip to Dixon, I got the impression that Illinois was a one-crop state. I'm glad to see it's not.

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! What a view.So green and the air looks fresh and clean.I wish!! You are so lucky!

kenju said...

My two favorite colors: green and blue. How lucky you are!

John said...

@kylekinh, Thanks for such unexpected nice comment! I'm glad you like and it really is pretty. Last year we had 16' tall corn all around and it was like a stockade LOL, this is much better.

@Larry_Ohio, Believe me I know all about cornfields everywhere in Illinois, and you're right it is mostly corn here. A lot of it goes for making ethanol. Just beyond the soybeans are cornfields. There is also a field of wheat I noticed the other day going to work. That one surprised me.

I've never been to Ohio except passing through on the way to the east coast, so I was glad to see your the photos of your city on your blog. I expected it to look like Detroit, so I was pleasantly surprised!

@truecrimebookreviews, the air is fresh and clean here, but full of lots of pollen and I have allergies. I'm glad to see these comments, so I don't take it for granted. I have lived in the desert though and I appreciate all the green around me! Oh, if you think this is a nice view, you should see the southern tip of the state here, where I grew up! It is amazing with bluffs, caves, unique rock formations, hills & hollows, nothing like here in central Illinois.

@kenju, my favorite colors too! Would you believe a "blue" sky here is rare. It is almost always cloudy. I took the most beautiful photo of a tree covered in ice & snow in January with a totally blue sky in the background, because I thought, "wow, a blue sky!"

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