Funk Farms Trust in Illinois: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Funk Farms Trust is a family-owned crop and cattle operation at Shirley in McLean County, Illinois, farming roughly 2,500 acres of cropland and pasture. It sits on land settled in the 1820s by Isaac and Cassandra Funk, and the Funk name is tied to the first commercially sold hybrid seed corn. In 2024 the farm celebrated 200 years in Funks Grove, a milestone that few Illinois operations of any size can claim.
| Location | Shirley, McLean County, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Founded | Settled 1824 at Funks Grove; trust established 1941 (as published) |
| Sectors | Corn, non-GMO soybeans, hay; pasture-grazed, stocker and custom-fed cattle; compost |
| Scale | About 2,500 acres of farmland and pasture (per the farm's own site) |
| Why it is elite | Two centuries on the land, seed-corn heritage, and a branded beef program |
| Ownership | Family-owned trust, with a professional management team |
| Official website | Funk Farms Trust official site |
History of Funk Farms Trust
The Funk story starts with Isaac and Cassandra Funk, who settled in Funks Grove in 1824. According to the farm, they accumulated a very large landholding over their lifetimes, and the present farm is a part of that original ground. Local coverage of the 2024 bicentennial describes the farm as a corn, soybean and cattle operation about 10 miles south of Bloomington.
The family's son, E.D. Funk Sr., entered the seed business in 1901. That business grew into Funk Bros. Seed Company, one of the largest seed companies in the country, and the farm is known for producing the first commercially sold hybrid seed corn. The seed company was sold in the late 1960s, though products carried the Funk's G Hybrid name into the 1990s. In 1941 E.D. Funk Sr. established what is now Funk Farms Trust, which runs the farm today.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture recognizes farms held by one family for 100, 150 and 200 years, and the Funk bicentennial puts the farm in the very top tier of that heritage program.
What Funk Farms Trust Grows and Raises
Funk Farms Trust grows commercial corn, non-GMO soybeans and hay on its crop ground. The farm's own site describes a heritage-based mission built around farmland sustainability and viability for future generations, and it publishes a dedicated sustainability page alongside its crop and cattle pages.
The cattle side is organized into four programs: Funk Farms Premium Beef, custom feeding, pasture grazing, and compost. The farm also handles stocker cattle and bred heifers. General manager Brian Bangert has told local media that the founders recognized the value of returning manure and compost to the soil, a practice the farm credits for the continued productivity of its ground.
How Funk Farms Trust Makes Money
Commodity crops
Corn, soybeans and hay are the base of the cropping program. As in most of central Illinois, row crops provide the volume revenue, while the livestock side adds diversification and use of grass and manure.
Branded beef
Funk Farms Premium Beef is the farm's own beef brand with its own website and social media accounts. Local coverage notes that the farm sells through its own butcher shops, which captures margin that would otherwise go to packers and retailers.
Custom feeding, stockers and compost
The farm publicly lists custom cattle feeding, stocker cattle, bred heifers and compost production as separate programs. Custom feeding uses barn and feed capacity for other owners' cattle, and compost turns manure into a product and a soil amendment.
Retail and heritage
The farm runs a retail store that carries products from other local producers, and the Funk Prairie Home and museum host tours and events. These add local visibility and customer contact around the core farm.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Funk Farms Trust
The first lesson is that a long-lived farm can keep its trust structure simple while adding specialized business lines under it. Crops, cattle, beef, compost and retail each have their own page and purpose, so each can be judged on its own results.
The second is the value of closing the nutrient loop. Returning manure and compost to cropland ties the cattle program to the crop program, and the third is that a story told honestly, a 200-year heritage and a seed-corn legacy, supports a premium beef brand and local customer loyalty.
Few farms can say their family helped invent hybrid seed corn and then went on to raise cattle on the same ground, and that is a lot of material for a laugh. Over at farm.FM the farm satire desk would probably suggest that after 200 years in Funks Grove, the corn has heard every farm joke there is. Good farm humor and ranch humor, along with a few farm jokes about seed-corn salesmen and cattle that think they are hybrids, are our way of tipping a cap to a McLean County landmark.
Part newsroom, part radio dial, farm.FM bills itself as America's first satirical farm site and plays Tractor Tunes, its country music for farmers. Browse a farm.FM writer's back catalog to see the style.
How to Contact Funk Farms Trust
Website: https://funkfarmstrust.com/
Address: 5959 N 1100 East Road, Shirley, Illinois 61772
Phone: 309 829 9325
Contact details as published on the operation's own website, November 2026. The site also offers a contact form. Visits, store hours and events vary; confirm before traveling.
Funk Farms Trust Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Funk Farms Trust official site - Crops, cattle, sustainability and contact page
- Funk Farms Premium Beef - The farm's own beef brand
- WGLT bicentennial coverage - Independent report on the 200th anniversary
- Illinois Bicentennial Farm program - Illinois Department of Agriculture heritage farm program
- USDA Census of Agriculture - National and state farm statistics
Funk Farms Trust FAQ
Where is Funk Farms Trust?
It is at 5959 N 1100 East Road, Shirley, in McLean County, Illinois, about 10 miles south of Bloomington.
How big is Funk Farms Trust?
The farm's own site says it is approximately 2,500 acres of farmland and pasture.
What does the farm produce?
Commercial corn, non-GMO soybeans and hay, plus pasture-grazed, stocker and custom-fed cattle, bred heifers, compost and Funk Farms Premium Beef.
Why is the Funk name important in agriculture?
The farm is known for producing the first commercially sold hybrid seed corn, and E.D. Funk Sr. built Funk Bros. Seed Company into one of the nation's largest seed firms.
Funk Farms Trust shows how an Illinois family farm can last two centuries by combining row crops, cattle and a clear sense of its own history. For the wider picture of soils, markets and programs, read our Illinois guide and then explore the other profiled operations.