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Historical marker to honor Indiana’s Soybean Pioneer


Indiana’s next state historical marker will honor the state’s Soybean Pioneer.

On June 10 the Indiana Historical Bureau will install the marker in Avon, Ind., about 30 minutes west of Indianapolis to honor Adrian A. Parsons.  Parsons raised diversified crops in 1884 and in the 1890’s he began sustained cultivation of soybeans for forage and fertilizer on his farm.  At that time soybeans were not widely grown in the US.  He originated the Mikado variety in 1905 and boosted yields by inoculating seed with nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil.

When Parson’s died in 1929, Indiana farmers planted just 326,000 acres of soybeans, today Hoosiers plant more than 5 million acres of the crop.

In 1928 he was recognized as the pioneer of all soybean growers in Indiana by the American Soybean Association.