Every five years, Congress has to renew the farm bill — a gigantic piece of legislation that supports and protects food production, natural resources and provides food benefits to low-income families. Lawmakers are in the process of shaping one of the biggest legislative packages moving through Congress this year: the 2023 Farm Bill. Few Americans…
Voters in the central Illinois county of about 16,000 rejected wind farms in general, in an advisory referendum that the county board had placed on the April 4 ballot.
Last winter’s precipitation relieved some areas of drought, yet in other places it’s deepened, making spring stressful for farmers and ranchers. Spring is the time for planting crops and turning cows out to graze — yet in parts of the central U.S., dry conditions are upending the growing season. Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois received enough…
Across the Midwest, some city codes threaten people with fines for having milkweed on their property. But experts say many places have dropped those rules to support monarchs with urban and suburban butterfly gardens.
Three companies want to capture carbon dioxide from Midwestern ethanol plants, transport it by pipeline and store it underground. Many in the ethanol industry claim it’s essential to the industry’s survival. Environmentalists and even farmers argue the pipelines are a boon for the industry — not a real solution for climate change. This story is…
FARMER CITY – Laura Enger has lived in Farmer City for most of her life. When the only grocery store in town closed over seven years ago, Enger said the community lost easy access to fresh food and produce. “Once a town loses its grocery store, the heart of it sort of dies,” Enger said. …
CHAMPAIGN – If you’ve ever bought a scone or a jar of strawberry jam at your local farmers market, you’ve likely supported someone in the cottage food business. A cottage food business is just what is sounds like: food prepared in a private home for sale to the public (bonus points for quaintness if that…
Rural towns and utilities could get funding for all kinds of projects through the federal Inflation Reduction Act — but experts say it will take dedicated community members stepping up to help make that happen. The act, passed in August, has money for rural development and energy infrastructure, as well as electric vehicle infrastructure and…
Legislation is being proposed at the federal and state level to restrict foreign ownership of farmland, especially by China. The scrutiny comes after a Midwestern project was scuttled by military concerns and the flight of a Chinese spy balloon across the U.S. A proposed corn mill processing plant was expected to be a big economic…
The consumer price index is widely used by Americans to determine inflation, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics only surveys American counties that include a metro or micropolitan area. In rural southwest Illinois, fourth generation grocery store owner Craig Norrenberns said his three shops across the region are “fighting the price battle.” “There’s no doubt…
U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski visited the University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign on Thursday. But first, the central Illinois Democrat stopped in Decatur, where more than 400 pharmaceutical plant workers had been abruptly laid off by Akorn Pharmaceutical.
Accurate weather information is important for farmers, emergency responders and researchers managing extreme conditions. But many monitoring networks are limited by unstable, patchwork funding. VALPARAISO, Neb. — In fields and pastures across Midwestern and Great Plains states, unmanned weather stations quietly record data on temperature, precipitation, humidity, soil conditions, wind and other factors. It’s fed…
MOLINE — Congress has a tight deadline to approve a new farm bill. Central Illinois congressman Eric Sorensen, D-Ill., is part of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee that recently reorganized at the start of the 118th Congress in late January. Listen to this story here. Sorensen said it will take compromise to meet the needs…
CHAMPAIGN – Food deserts have long been associated with urban areas where full-service grocery stores are hard to find. But rural areas also struggle with a lack of access to fresh, affordable produce, despite often being surrounded by rich agricultural land. According to the Food Access Atlas, a map maintained by the USDA, dozens of…
Take a look at the back of the cans and boxes in your cupboards and you’re likely to see some that say “contains bioengineered food ingredients.” A year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began mandating labeling for foods that are genetically modified or contain GMO ingredients. The national standard was endorsed by some farm…