By STEVE BINDER
Illinois Correspondent

CARBONDALE, Ill. — A lifelong farmer and staunch supporter of agriculture research is leaving his mark on the industry following his death and the passing of his wife.

The estate of Harold and Nora Kuehn has given more than $1 million worth of property to the Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s (SIUC) College of Agricultural Sciences. Part of the large Kuehn farm located about 15 miles north of Carbondale already has been sold to establish scholarships for SIUC students pursuing ag-related degrees.

The remaining land gives the SIUC ag program its largest chunks of property for use in research and education, now known as the Kuehn Research and Education Center. Jarrett Nehring, director of University Farms, said the gift will benefit the university and region well into the future.

“Having access to the Kuehn Research and Education Center is beneficial because we have large fields to conduct large-scale research. Most research on the Carbondale experimental farms is small-scale,” Nehring said.

“These large-scale experiments are the final stages of our research that can demonstrate to farmers how this applies to their operation,” he explained.
Kuehn was well-known in the ag industry regionally and across the United States. The grain and livestock farmer was a founding member of the Illinois Soybean Assoc., served as its president in 1968 and was SIUC’s first president of its Ag Alumni Assoc.

The soybean association still funds a significant amount of research at SIUC, including the soybean breeding program begun earlier this year at Kuehn’s farm.
Kuehn also served as president of the American Soybean Assoc., and in 1972 was part of the USDA’s first trade mission to Russia.

Nora Kuehn accompanied her husband to 38 of 49 countries he visited as part of his market development work for the USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service and the national soybean group.

The couple’s gift to SIUC will have a lasting impact on the ag industry, said acting ag Dean Todd Winters.
“We’re in the beginning stages of providing larger scale research to southern Illinois farmers. In the years to come, it will become a very beneficial center,” Winters said.

“Whether we’re educating our own students who visit the facility, or hosting a field day for local farmers so they can see our research first-hand, it’s an opportunity to educate the farm community on new and upcoming products. It is quite a legacy for Harold and Nora Kuehn.”