Latest Agriculture News From The Illinois Newsroom Team
U of I hopes a new greenhouse will be an incubator for bioenergy crops.
University of Illinois officials held ceremonial shovels Wednesday morning, for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction on a new greenhouse. It will open next summer in the Urbana-Champaign campus’ Research Park and be used for research into bioenergy crops.
Shrimp in Missouri? These farmers are raising fresh seafood far from the ocean
A group of Midwestern shrimp farmers are on a mission to provide Americans with better-tasting, sustainable shrimp. The industry struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but
A survey of farm households finds that the stress of farm life is felt by teens as well as adults.
When farm life causes stress, young people feel it along with the adults. That correlation was noted in a survey of farm families, conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois and the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin.
The EPA plans to retool its pesticide program in an effort to protect endangered animals
The EPA has completed less than 5% of its Endangered Species Act caseload in reviewing pesticides. Now the agency is proposing a new strategy for scrutinizing agricultural chemicals’ effects on listed species.
Ranchers got tired of Big Beef taking their profits. So they started their own processing plant
A crane looms above a dusty field just outside of North Platte, Nebraska, where trucks loaded with dirt criss-cross the busy site and workers
Most of the Midwest is in drought. And there’s no simple way to get out of it
This year’s particularly dry spring drove a large part of the Midwest, including Missouri and Illinois, into drought. The lack of moisture has far-reaching implications,
Young people and their horses opened the Champaign County Fair
URBANA – Cattle, sheep and swine are being shown off in agricultural competitions this week at the Champaign County Fair in Urbana. But this past
Drought, deluge and the climate curious farmers of central Illinois
The state’s largest industry can’t ignore global warming — but change can be slow and expensive. Here’s what farmers say is tipping the scales for them now.
Drought made Midwest and Great Plains crops look ‘like death.’ Recent rains bring some hope
Dryness in the Great Plains began spreading east this year, affecting much of the Midwest and endangering crops, livestock and river shipping. Recent rains have
Elderberries are a successful niche crop at a crossroads: go big or stay small
Elderberries are native to the Midwest, but the commercial cultivation of the crop is relatively recent, and saw a big increase during the coronavirus pandemic. That has the burgeoning industry wondering if its future is as a small, niche crop or something bigger.
U.S. approves ‘lab-grown meat’ for sale, but you probably won’t find it on shelves anytime soon
The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave two companies the green light last month to produce and sell their cultivated chicken meat across the country. But it could still take years before people can buy the new meat at grocery stores.
Tornado and drought damaged areas in Illinois will receive disaster funds
Farmers can apply for emergency loans after tornadoes and drought last spring.
Trees climb up cities’ priority lists after getting a $1.5 billion boost in federal climate funding
Driving along the Rock River, Mitch Leatherbie, a street superintendent for the city of Rockford, Illinois, spots a pair of trees he considers survivors. “There’s
