Agriculture

Researchers at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) found that transitioning land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to bioenergy agriculture can be ad­­­vantageous for American landowners, the government, and the environment.

URBANA, Ill. – Tami Craig Schilling, 1990 agricultural communications graduate, has loved the University of Illinois for as long as she can remember. A gift of Illini gear from her grandmother and trips to campus during high school were early influences in her choice to attend U of I.

Now, her Illini journey takes a significant step forward. As a member of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, Craig Schilling will serve a six-year term.

URBANA, Ill. – From flooded spring fields to summer hailstorms and drought, farmers are well aware the weather is changing. It often means spring planting can’t happen on time or has to happen twice to make up for catastrophic losses of young seedlings.

URBANA, Ill.  – Lettuce is an important food commodity in the U.S., popular for its health and nutrition benefits. But leafy greens can be carriers of foodborne disease, leading to frequent product recalls.

ACES professors Amy Ando, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, and Girish Chowdhary, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, will receive 2021 seed funding from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) at the University of Illinois, under its 2021 interdisciplinary research initiative and Campus as a Living Laboratory (CALL) project. Read more from

URBANA, Ill. – Getting nutrition right during a dairy cow’s dry period can make a big difference to her health and the health of her calf. But it’s also a key contributor to her milk yield after calving. New research from the University of Illinois shows diets containing consistent energy levels and the rumen-boosting supplement monensin may be ideal during the dry period.

URBANA, Ill. – Construction on the University of Illinois’ new Feed Technology Center may be complete, but donations are still arriving to sponsor the facility’s $20 million price tag. For Ed McMillan and his family, the first individual donors, the choice to give to the Feed Technology Center was simple.

URBANA, Ill. – Dairy producers know early nutrition for young calves has far-reaching impacts, both for the long-term health and productivity of the animals and for farm profitability. With the goal of increasing not just body weight but also lean tissue gain, a new University of Illinois study finds enhanced milk replacer with high crude-protein dry starter feed is the winning combination.  

URBANA, Ill. – Soil erosion is a major challenge in agricultural production. It affects soil quality and carries nutrient sediments that pollute waterways. While soil erosion is a naturally occurring process, agricultural activities such as conventional tilling exacerbate it. Farmers implementing no-till practices can significantly reduce soil erosion rates, a new University of Illinois study shows.

URBANA, Ill. – Large perennial grasses like miscanthus are a primary target for use as bioenergy crops because of their sustainability advantages, but they take several years to establish and aren’t ideal for crop rotation. Maize and other annual crops are easier to manage with traditional farming, but they are tougher on the environment.

Energy sorghum, a hefty annual plant with the ecological benefits of a perennial, may combine the best of both crops.