Founded in 1964 under the official name of Land of Lincoln Soybean Association, the organization operated as the Illinois Soybean Association and became affiliated with the American Soybean Association in 1965.
Illinois Soybean Association
ASA Presidents from Illinois
W. E. Riegel, Tolono, Ill., ASA president 1920-21
W. L. Burlison, Urbana, Ill., ASA president 1929-30
J. C. Hackleman, Urbana, Ill., ASA president 1936-37
Joe Johnson, Champaign, Ill., ASA president 1943-44
Walter W. McLaughlin, Decatur, Ill., ASA president 1946-47
Albert Dimond, Lovington, Ill., ASA president 1955-57
Carl G. Simcox, Assumption, Ill., ASA president 1959-60
Harold Kuehn, Du Quoin, Ill., ASA president 1971-73
Allan Aves, Kirkland, Ill., ASA president 1979-80
George Fluegel, Leroy, Ill., ASA president 1985-86
David Erickson, Altona, Ill., ASA president 1996-97
Dwain Ford, Kinmundy, Ill., ASA president 2002-03
Ron Moore, Roseville, Ill., ASA president 2016-17
State Association Gallery
Soybean champion John Reiser, Jr., (right) of Ashland, Ill., is honored by Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman for his ability to greatly increase acreage yields of soybeans, an important protein crop in the “War on Hunger.” Reiser produced 82.7 bushels of soybeans per acre in 1965 to exceed the national average of about 24 bushels and Freeman presented him with a certificate recognizing his “outstanding achievement” as a “significant demonstration of good farm management.”
Land of Lincoln Soybean Association leaders meet in Washington, DC with U.S. Senator Charles Percy in 1978. Photo: Illinois Soybean Association
University of Illinois and USDA speakers, and Land of Lincoln and American Soybean Association officers at the Land of Lincoln Soybean Association March Board Meeting. Standing from left, Wayne Fell, Kansas, Ill., ASA director; Carl Thorp, Clinton, Ill., Land of Lincoln treasurer; Dr. Theodore Hymowitz, UI assistant professor; Dr. J. A. Jacobs, UI professor of agronomy; and Dr. Richard Cooper, agronomist in charge, U.S. Regional Soybean Laboratory. Seated from left, Harold Kuehn, Du Quoin, Ill., ASA vice president; LaVerne Workman, Chatham, Ill., Land of Lincoln president; Dr. M. D. Thorne, head, UI department of agronomy; and Dr. J. W. Pendleton, UI professor of agronomy. (Photo circa 1970)
A Japanese agriculture group visits the farm of Dick Haas nearly Le Roy, Illinois in 1976. Photo: Illinois Soybean Association.