Over 100 billion pounds of food goes to waste every year in America. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to Food Bank is trying to cut down on that waste by connecting local farmers and food pantries, but it’s future depends on how much funding is included for the program in the next farm bill. Volunteers…
Farmers got a slightly smaller percentage of what consumers spent on food last year than the year before, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In most cases, Thanksgiving staples return cents on the dollar to farmers. Farmers received less than 15 cents for every dollar spent on food in…
Drought has affected several pumpkin-producing states, including Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. But rain arrived at the right time to produce a bumper crop in parts of the Midwest. John Ackerman says his pumpkin crop was a good one this year, despite the fact his fields saw no measurable rainfall for weeks in the late spring…
A new facility at Parkland College in Champaign will train students to become service technicians for farm equipment made by AGCO. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday for the AGCO Training Center.
The Piatt County Board voted 4-2 on Friday to approve a special use permit for a wind farm in the county. But several members made it clear they were approving the Prosperity Wind project reluctantly, as a new Illinois law gave them no real choice in the matter.
Care farms are agricultural places for people with physical or mental health challenges to process their emotions, while performing farming tasks and working with animals. Participants are able to receive formal or informal care to address things like anxiety, depression and grief. It’s a popular concept in Europe that hasn’t gained as much traction in…
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.
The leaders of both Congressional agriculture committees say federal lawmakers will move back farm bill negotiations to December. The current law expires Sept. 30, but experts say there should be little peril despite the blown deadline.
Food waste takes up space in landfills and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Composting that waste can reduce climate impacts and save municipalities money on landfill fees, but concerns about bad smells and pests sometimes get in the way. In the middle of an urban farm, tucked behind houses…
Illinois is joining a growing list of states that will no longer test fish in lakes and rivers for DDT and other related pesticides. Illinois began testing fish for organochlorine pesticides in the 1970s, a few years after the best-known one, DDT, was banned in the U-S. Up until the ban, the chemicals had been…
Illinois Public Media hosted an advance screening of the film, “Greener Pastures” on September 15, 2023 at The Virginia Theatre with collaborator, The Land Connection. The film premieres on PBS stations March 25, 2024. Greener Pastures trailer: The post-film discussion has been edited for length and clarity. Kimberlie Kranich Good evening, everybody. Welcome. I’m Kimberlie…
Fair manager points to good weather, recent renovations.
An explosion and fire at an Archer Daniels Midland facility in Illinois has injured eight employees and sent a tower of smoke into the air.
It’s a hot, buggy morning and Derrick Hoffman is poking around a densely packed row of bushy cherry tomato plants. Behind him, rows of peppers, eggplant, kale and broccoli are still soaking up the sun, while just a few country roads away, bok choy and butter lettuce sprout under hoop house protection. But in the…
Zoning hearings are underway in Piatt County on a new wind farm proposal, six months after the Piatt County Board rejected a similar proposal from the same company.