When it comes to having roots firmly planted on the farm, Megan Oliver is the real deal.
The 2026 Wethersfield High School graduate, this year’s “Knee High by the Fourth of July Girl,” is the sixth generation of the Oliver family to live on land her Scottish ancestors purchased southeast of Kewanee in 1852.
Her long range goals include returning to the farm after graduating from college but for now, she accompanied her father, Adam, to one of their corn fields for this year’s unofficial “July 4th” mission to determine the height of the corn crop at what used to be the date when the green, leafy stalks should be at least knee high in order to produce a good crop.
Those days are long gone, but progress at this point in the growing season is important.
Megan’s tape measured her dad’s Wyffels Hybrids 6110 110-day corn planted on May 9 at 5 feet, 5 inches tall. Local “knee high” measurements for the past five years have ranged from 5 to 6 feet, with the exception of last year when Mikayla Quart measured her dad’s corn at 7 feet tall. The highest tail of the tape was 9 feet, 3 inches recorded in Mark Fargher’s field in 2007 by cousins Natalie and Rachel Fargher, the shortest by Allison Pratt in 1990 at 36 inches.
Megan plans to major in crops and soil science at Illinois State University this fall. The 39 credits she earned from dual credit courses through Black Hawk College East Campus while in high school will give her a head start on her freshman year.
Megan graduated in the Top 10% of her class, was on the High Honors list spring semester at BHE, and received a number of scholarships at graduation from WHS including the Robert and Donna Doubles Memorial Scholarship through the Henry County Farm Bureau Foundation and the Lou Little Memorial Scholarship presented to a graduate planning to pursue a career in agriculture.
She also received the Dekalb Achievement Award and a Wethersfield FFA Alumni scholarship. She was Student Council president, FFA Chapter president her junior year, FFA Homecoming Sweetheart her senior year and was inducted into the National Honor Society.
During her four years in FFA she competed on teams in forestry, horticulture, land use and livestock judging and showed 4-H bucket calves at the Henry County Fair. She was also a member of Wethersfield’s Elite 8 varsity girls’ basketball team this year.
Megan enjoys farm life and takes an active role in the day-to-day operations including planting and harvest and hopes to stay connected to the family farm in the years ahead.
According to the American Farmland Trust, women now account for roughly 36% of all U.S. agricultural producers. Furthermore, women represent 41% of beginning farmers (those with less than 10 years of experience), indicating that the future of farming is becoming increasingly diverse.
