It’s Your Year

It’s Your Year

CLAIRE WEINZIERL | EDITOR | ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION

A few weeks ago, many of us gathered around our televisions to watch the 57th Super Bowl. You’d probably assembled some of your favorite gameday snacks, picked a team to cheer for – Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles, and maybe you’d pulled together a group of friends to help cheer your team to victory. But what stood out this year had little to do with the big game or even the halftime show. For the State of Illinois, time was suspended during a commercial break somewhere in the second quarter when the much-anticipated “We are the 96” commercial aired, bringing the faces of real Illinois farm families into the living rooms of everyone watching.

The “We are the 96” campaign was developed to share the important news that 96 percent of Illinois farms are family-owned. The Illinois Farm Families Coalition (Illinois Beef Association, Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Soybean Association and Midwest Dairy), felt it was time to bring this important message to Illinois consumers statewide. Recent IFF research indicated that when asked, consumer respondents said they think only 47 percent of Illinois farms are family-owned, with the other 53 percent being corporately owned.

And while this information is underestimated, it does present an opportunity to tell one of Illinois’ proudest stories.

Over the next year, Illinois agriculture has declared 2023 “The Year of the Illinois Farmer” and you’ll be seeing much more “We are the 96” campaign messaging coming to you. We’ll be highlighting more than 25 Illinois Farm Families featured in this special campaign, and putting a face to Illinois agriculture for the benefit of our con- sumers. You’ll see this campaign in your social media feeds, watching the news, on the radio and even at events like the Illinois State Fair and Farm Progress Show. To say we’re excited to highlight Illinois’ 96 (who also represent the readership of this magazine) is an understatement.

What’s the goal of this campaign? To introduce the hardworking families and faces behind Illinois agriculture, encouraging consumers to support local farmers and trust the food and fuel that they produce.

As you read this April issue focused on another important topic that impacts us at home and locally – rural broadband – I hope you remember that Illinois agriculture is united, collaborative and looking out for the interests of the Illinois farmers we serve. After all, it’s our ability to communicate with communities across the state that enables us to share stories that inspire, engage, and move audiences to a place of better appreciation and understanding.

It’s your story; it’s your legacy; it’s your year.

CLAIRE WEINZIERL | EDITOR | ILLINOIS SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION