And now, the other side of the coin.
As the spring General Assembly ended, Capitol News Illinois and the Medill Illinois News Bureau published an excellent report under the headline: “Illinois grows millions of bushels of soybeans. Why aren’t we eating them? More local infrastructure urgently needed for Illinois’ own crops, especially soybeans, to make it from farm to table.” (tinyurl.com/MedillSoybeans)
Three weeks later, a different Medill grad student, Naomi Tracy, had her own piece: “Illinois bets on biodiesel: Expanding the market for domestic soybeans; A year fraught with trade wars and global oil shocks is testing whether Illinois’ long-running investment in biodiesel is paying off.” (tinyurl.com/MedillSoybeans2)
It’s a gross oversimplification to suggest the issue is as simple as “heads we eat the beans, tails we burn them in combustion engines,” but bouncing between the two does offer useful insight for people who don’t make a living off the land. All farmers, and grain growers in particular, face unique challenges trying to keep afloat, navigating many circumstances well beyond their own control.
“Sharp swings in exports over the last decade – driven by tariff disputes and growing competition from Brazil – exposed how vulnerable the industry was to geopolitics, pushing Illinois farmers, processors and lawmakers to invest more heavily in domestic markets for the crop,” Tracy wrote.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because of similarities to what Medill’s Tara Sun wrote in May: “In 2025, with a trade war freezing exports to China – one of the biggest buyers of Illinois soybeans – Gov. JB Pritzker declared an ‘Agricultural Export Crisis’ on Oct. 29 and directed state agencies to enhance domestic markets.”
Whether the answer is fuel for humans or for vehicles, the question is all about economic stability. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in 2017, some 47% of American-grown beans went through a process called “crushing,” separating into livestock meal and oil for things like biodiesel. The projected figure for 2026 is 57%.
On the fuel side, sales tax exemptions incentivize retailers and consumers, ideally increasing demand. The Illinois Soybean Association said a new state policy could drive production from 165 million gallons annually to 255 million.
For food, mechanisms are less direct. Sun’s report explored the Local Food Infrastructure Grant program, not specifically a soybean incentive, and efforts like transportation infrastructure positioned as offering significant returns on government incentives in the form of getting goods to market more quickly, saving wear on trucks and lowering fuel expenses.
As I wrote in May, all Illinoisans need to understand the key role agribusiness has, does, and will continue to play in the economic power of the state and region. For ag outsiders with strong influence on farm policy, quality information is essential.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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June 24, 2026 at 10:06AM
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