Crops

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Stephen P. Long, a professor of crop sciences and plant biology at the University of Illinois, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest professional honors a scientist can receive. He is one of 100 new members and 25 foreign associates recognized for “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”

URBANA, Ill. – Technology in the agricultural industry continues to expand, and with it, the demand for employees prepared to work for agricultural companies. In an effort to build a talent pipeline, The Climate Corporation (Climate), a subsidiary of Bayer, made a $500,000 investment in a new major at the University of Illinois. Leading the digital agriculture revolution, the university launched a first-of-its-kind major combining computer sciences and crop sciences, which the Climate gift benefits.

URBANA, Ill. – Gary Schnitkey, a nationally recognized farm management expert, was honored as the Soybean Industry Chair in Agricultural Strategy in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics during an investiture ceremony at the University of Illinois on April 24. 

Schnitkey, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at U of I, specializes in crop insurance, farm management and farmland economies, and he is a leading expert in the economics of Midwestern crop farms.

URBANA, Ill. – The soybean cyst nematode, one of the crop’s most destructive pests, isn’t like most of its wormy relatives. Whereas the vast majority of nematodes look like the microscopic worms they are, the female soybean cyst nematode shape-shifts into a tiny lemon after feeding on soybean roots. In a new EvoDevo article, a University of Illinois research team explains how it happens and why.

URBANA, Ill. – The U.S. Corn Belt produces about a third of the world’s corn and soybean supply, but with further intensification and a changing climate, it’s not clear whether the Corn Belt can remain environmentally sustainable over the long term. With a new five-year project, funded by the National Science Foundation’s flagship CAREER award, Illinois scientist Kaiyu Guan aims to find out.

URBANA, Ill. – Corn growers experienced an epidemic of tar spot in 2018, with the fungal disease occurring in 172 counties across the Midwest. With the potential for another significant outbreak in 2019, a University of Illinois plant pathologist is asking for help from growers.

URBANA, Ill. – Weeds often emerge at the same time as vulnerable crop seedlings and sneak between plants as crops grow. How do farmers kill them without harming the crops themselves?

URBANA, Ill. – Adding soy flour to school lunches in Ghana provides a cost-efficient way of increasing the protein level, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Illinois researcher.

Soy is known to be a low-cost protein source, says Peter Goldsmith, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the U of I. “But the thesis that soy is a good ingredient in a national school lunch program had yet to be proven, though everyone assumed it.”

URBANA, Ill. - The Midwest Cover Crops Council (MCCC), in collaboration with University of Illinois Extension, will be holding its annual meeting in Springfield, Feb. 20-21. This is the first time Illinois will be the host state for the MCCC conference. The meeting will be held at the Northfield Inn Suites & Conference Center, located at 3280 Northfield Drive, Springfield.

URBANA, Ill. – For farmers, Miscanthus represents a big up-front investment. The large perennial grass must be established from vegetative pieces at great cost to farmers, but it promises a decade or more of massive biomass yields, starting in year two or three. If a cold winter happens to strike in the first year, however, all bets are off.

The cold-sensitivity of the crop has limited its adoption in northern climes, but new research from the University of Illinois shows a way forward for would-be Miscanthus growers in cold regions.