URBANA, Ill. — The Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative (IRAI) marks the successful completion of its first three years with a new name: I-Regen. The name change reflects an ongoing commitment to the future of regenerative agriculture in the Midwest. I-Regen encourages diversified value chains that balance the health and wealth of Midwest agricultural systems, creating a resilient bioeconomy that combats climate change, enhances soil and water quality, supports communities, and ensures food security.

Over the past decades, Brazil has become the world’s leading soybean producer, as well as the leading consumer of pesticides. Despite concerns about potential public health consequences, little is known about the effects of pesticide exposure in the general population.

URBANA, Ill. – Nanozymes are synthetic materials that mimic the properties of natural enzymes for applications in biomedicine and chemical engineering. They are generally considered too toxic and expensive for use in agriculture and food science.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A multiyear analysis tested whether management zone maps based on soil conditions, topography or other landscape features can reliably predict which parts of a cornfield will respond best to higher rates of seeding or nitrogen application. The study found that – contrary to common assumptions – crop-plot responses to the same inputs vary significantly from year to year. The most unpredictable factor – the weather – seemed to have the biggest impact on how the crops responded to these inputs.

The new findings are reported in the Agronomy Journal. 

URBANA, Ill. – Looking for a family-friendly event this weekend? Check out the second annual Crop Sciences Harvest Open House from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept.

URBANA, Ill. — David Bullock, professor of agricultural and consumer economics

URBANA, Ill. — A new analysis from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service

URBANA, Ill. — Like every industry, modern farming relies heavily on plastics. Think plastic mulch lining vegetable beds, PVC pipes draining water from fields, polyethylene covering high tunnels, and plastic seed, fertilizer, and herbicide packaging, to name a few.

The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) has something for everyone — and they don’t just mean the wealth of offerings in their tent at the 2023 Farm Progress Show.

Earth’s soil contains large stocks of carbon — even more carbon than in the atmosphere. A significant portion of this soil carbon is in organic form (carbon bound to carbon), called soil organic carbon (SOC). However, SOC has historically been greatly diminished by agricultural activity, releasing that carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, contributing to climate change.