Page 34 2026 Spring Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 2026 Where Does Our Corn Go? “One of my favorite things about Spring is watching the corn highlight the dark soil as it peeks through the ground,” says retired farmer Jim Boerma, of Emden, IL. Each year, approximately 182,000 acres of Logan County are planted with corn, transforming our county’s landscape. But, after all the anticipation of planting and harvesting, where does our corn go? According to USDA NASS reports, in 2025, Logan County produced 40,590,000 bushels of corn, a slight decrease from 2024’s record-breaking yields, but it remained a top performer in the state, averaging 223 bushels per acre. Chris Crane owns and operates a farm and trucking company out of the HartsburgEmden area. He begins his day at 3:30 a.m. by arriving at the farm, filling his truck with fuel, and heading to Hartsburg Grain in Hartsburg, IL, where he will load the trailer and begin transporting corn to its destination. Each day looks a little different for Chris; on some trips, he arrives at the plant and promptly unloads. On others, he waits in line for hours. While Chris has hauled corn to numerous locations, his primary destinations are Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in Decatur, ADM in Havana, Primient in Decatur, and ALTO-ICP in Pekin. Some days, he will haul several loads to one destination in the morning and then switch to another in the afternoon. Mr. Crane provided photos of his truck loaded with corn during harvest of 2025.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzExODA=