Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

By Tom Emery

During mobilization for World War I, a popular slogan was “food will win the war.” Illinois farmers took it to heart.

In both years of American participation in the war, Illinois agriculture broke records for yield and crop value. The success was part of a comprehensive organization of statewide resources, and farming was near the top of the list.

The U.S. declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917 and five months later, a statewide plan for Illinois food production and conservation was implemented. The plan was under the State Council of Defense, a fifteen-member collection of state leaders that served as a “clearinghouse” for public and private agencies.

The SCD was appointed by Gov. Frank Lowden and chaired by Samuel Insull, the energetic president of Commonwealth Edison in northern Illinois.

Each county in Illinois had its own committee for food production and conservation. With a wave of patriotism sweeping the nation, everyone seemed to pitch in, including farmers.

Farm labor was seen as a key problem, as rural workers were being lost to service, and demands for Illinois crops were expected to increase. As a result, the SCD supported the United States Boys’ Working Reserve, which helped enroll males between 16-21 for farm work, and give them basic instruction.

The SCD also oversaw a lesson plan on farm work that became part of the curriculum of all Illinois high schools. The plan was so effective that it was copied by other states, and produced some 20,000 boys across Illinois for farm work. Middle-aged and older men with farm training were also encouraged to return to agriculture.

Existing labor was shifted to areas of greater need. When drought conditions in southern Illinois caused a surplus of corn huskers, some were shipped to northern and central Illinois, where help was needed.

Provisions were also made to secure 300 men from Camp Grant near Rockford for husking. These men were hampered by slight physical disabilities, and were not mustered for overseas service.

In the end, the expected farm labor shortage never materialized, and wages were higher than ever, running $35 to $45 per month with board. The huskers received six cents a bushel with board, or seven cents “when the husker boarded himself.”

Weather threatened other aspects of production, including early frosts in the fall of 1917 that posed problems for seed corn the next season. To ease the problem, a massive Seed Corn Campaign, financed by sixteen Chicago banks, provided results that the SCD labeled “most gratifying.”

While farmers carried the load downstate, residents of Chicago and other urban areas were encouraged to plant War Gardens, and a sweeping publicity campaign promoted their worth. Eventually, some 2,989 acres of War Gardens were created in Chicago, tended by 238,422 gardeners to produce a crop value of over $3.5 million.

The gardens, however, paled in comparison to the farms, which smashed many records. Illinois wheat in 1917 was double the production of the previous year, and that total soared another 70 percent in 1918. The final yield of nearly 61 million bushels led the nation, and gave farmers a profit of $1.43 a bushel in 1918.

Acreage for wheat increased ten percent between 1917-18, and amounted to one-seventh of all increased wheat acreage in the nation. The yield was aided by a “Kill the Smut” campaign to knock out smut, a fungal disease that threatens wheat.

The early frosts of 1917 sliced the corn yield to 351.4 million bushels in 1918, but the corn was of good quality. Illinois corn in 1918 had one and a half times the feeding value of 1917.

Barley production jumped to 4.75 million bushels in 1918, twice the previous year, and the yield of 3.8 million bushels of rye was a staggering five times higher than in 1917. State farmers produced 244 million bushels of oats in 1918, which was 45 million short of 1917 because the government had requested other crops than oats.

Overall, the Illinois crop of 1917 was the largest in the history of the state. Though the volume in 1918 dropped to third, the money value was considerably higher. That year, Illinois produced the most valuable crop in American history to date, a total of $879,679,000.

That figure easily topped Iowa, which was second at just under $822 million. Texas was a distant third, some $175 million behind Illinois.

In 1919, the SCD proudly declared that “its efforts in behalf of increased food production and its seed corn campaign were among its best contributions to the war work of the state,” adding that the production “gave an illuminating illustration of the fine war spirit of the agricultural industry.” Certainly, Illinois farmers had answered the call once again.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or [email protected].