Alot has changed on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus since its founding in 1867, but a storied plot of land near the south quad has been preserved nearly intact for a century and a half. The Morrow Plots, famed in song and story, represent the oldest continuously running agricultural experiment in North America, and are the second oldest in the world. And this year, they turn 150.
“The Morrow Plots are a huge part of our story in the College of ACES. They’re a direct example of how we live out our land-grant mission, providing evidence-based recommendations that serve the public,” said German Bollero, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. “We’re so excited to celebrate 150 years of agricultural research and outreach that the Morrow Plots represent.”
It’s not an overstatement to say the Morrow Plots have directly impacted the way Americans farm. When the plots were established, farming was more of an art than a science. But methodical controlled experiments in the plots proved certain practices — crop rotation and judicious fertilizer use — were winners for boosting crop yield, soil health and farm profitability.
With the advent of University of Illinois-Extension in 1914, another key milestone, results from the plots were shared with farmers to implement across the state and beyond.
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