Agriculture

Brazil’s “Dirty List,” a public registry that names employers found to have violated anti-slavery laws, is a key component of the country’s efforts to combat forced labor. Major meatpackers in Brazil signed sustainable sourcing commitments promising to not purchase cattle directly from ranchers on the Dirty List.

In 1861, a scientist collected a soil sample from native prairie near what is now Tamaroa, Illinois. The prairie has since become farmland, and the surrounding landscape has undergone generations of agricultural development. But a jar of soil preserved at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign offers researchers a rare opportunity to find out what has changed beneath the surface.

Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and five other research institutions are five years into a futuristic $25 million project that allows people and plants to communicate and collaborate to meet environmental challenges.

In the 150 years since the establishment of the Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, many forward-thinking people have had a hand in their upkeep and management. But in that long line of leaders — from founder Manly Miles to current director Andrew Margenot — it’s recently deceased Robert Dunker whose love and dedication towards the plots may surpass the rest. 

Farmers are struggling with high input costs, low grain prices, and razor-thin profit margins. A new project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, aims to help. By experimenting with drainage water recycling, the team hopes to reduce nutrient losses, improve water quality, boost local farm economies, and avoid harmful algal blooms in the Gulf.

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. 

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. Each year, vehicles, machinery, environmental hazards, and other incidents cause thousands of injuries and hundreds of fatalities. A thorough understanding of the main risks is key to preventing accidents and promoting agricultural safety.

Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa adopt agricultural inputs including fertilizer at a low rate, contributing to low agricultural productivity.

The Morrow Plots in the heart of campus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hold significance as a landmark and a lasting contribution to agricultural research.