Two alumni from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign received 2026 University of Illinois Alumni Association awards at a ceremony on Oct. 1 at Pear Tree Estates in Champaign.

Red crown rot, a fungal disease of soybean, is not new to the Midwest. First reported in Illinois in 2018, the disease is now surging across the state and the region. Boris Camiletti, a plant pathologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is leading the effort to understand and combat the scourge, along with the Crop Protection Network, the Illinois Soybean Association, the United Soybean Board, and researchers in surrounding states. 

The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign celebrated the completion of a new gate and perimeter fencing at the historic Morrow Plots with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 19, 2026, during Celebrate Food and Ag Day.

Tucked away in the far southern part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus is the Food Science Pilot Plant, a flexible, state-of-the-art space for food processing.

The Center for Digital Agriculture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is being awarded $750,000 by the USDA-NIFA Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) program for a proposal titled “Digital Applications of Technology in Agriculture for Sustainable, Multidisc

The historic Morrow Plots on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus have provided a site for agricultural research and experimentation for 150 years. It is the longest-running agricultural experiment in the U.S. and the second-longest in the world, and the University Archives holds records that show that scientific history.

Majestic African antelopes known as gemsbok have been roaming the U.S. southwest since their introduction in the 1960s and 1970s. Brought to New Mexico as game species for hunting, gemsbok quickly settled in, expanding more than 100 kilometers from their introduction point. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers say that’s due to their exceptional adaptations to arid conditions, which they predict will dramatically expand under climate change.

Tucked among cornfields and country roads just outside Champaign, Pear Tree Estate has hosted hundreds of weddings and events.

The facility, built in 2013, is clad in wood and nestled next to a little pond beyond which lies the familiar, flat horizon of central Illinois. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow light to flood the room and perfectly frame the picturesque corn growing right outside.