The Illinois State Fair celebrates agriculture once a year, but let’s face it, that’s just not enough for some of us.

This week the Illinois State Museum introduced a solution with its new Audio-Video Barn Web site. The two-year Oral History of Illinois Agriculture project showcases audio and video interviews with more than 130 people involved in the state’s agriculture industry.

The site not only includes 60 interviews from archived university audio tapes — the oldest sharing stories from the 1880s — but also presents more than 70 new interviews from locations across the state like fields, dairy barns and orchards.

“This resource will especially benefit our future ag leaders,” said Illinois Department of Agriculture director Tom Jennings, “as they can now hear and see firsthand accounts from generations past, and build upon that knowledge to maintain Illinois’ status as one of the strongest agrarian states in the nation.”

See and hear for yourself by searching 300 hours of audio and video clips by topic, name, date or geographic location at http://avbarn.museum.state.il.us.