Representative Bradley Fritts (R-Dixon), the youngest elected member of the Illinois General Assembly, is shaping a distinctive path in his early political career.

When farmers harvest their grain, they can choose to sell it right away or store it to obtain better prices later in the season.

URBANA, Ill.

URBANA, Ill. — Over half of forests in the United States are privately owned, especially in the Eastern part of the country. This can make control of invasive species challenging, as efforts need to be coordinated among many different landowners.

URBANA, Ill. — Meat processing plants in the U.S. have garnered considerable public attention in recent years, often focusing on production and labor issues. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the vulnerability of large, concentrated plants, as major shutdowns led to reduced output and higher meat prices for consumers.

URBANA, Ill. – Land conservation projects do more than preserve open space and natural ecosystems. They can also boost property values for homeowners living nearby. But a new study finds that those financial benefits are unequally distributed among demographic groups in the U.S.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —A new book by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign expert in agricultural commodity markets explores a lifetime spent studying the massive markets that underpin the global financial system.

URBANA, Ill. – While the t-shirt you are wearing is likely to be made in China, Vietnam or Pakistan, it may be produced from cotton grown much closer to home. The U.S. is a major world supplier of cotton, exporting much of the production to markets in Asia, where it goes into textile manufacturing. However, growing competition from Brazil and the effects of recent trade policies are shifting global market trends. A new study from the University of Illinois investigates how U.S.

URBANA, Ill. – Changing weather patterns have profound impacts on agricultural production around the world. Higher temperatures, severe drought, and other weather events may decrease output in some regions but effects are often volatile and unpredictable. Yet, many countries rely on agricultural and food trade to help alleviate the consequences of local, weather-induced production shifts, a new paper from the University of Illinois suggests.

URBANA, Ill. – Many maize farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa sell their crop at harvest, often because they need funds to pay expenses. Development agencies often support or sponsor harvest-time loans that encourage farmers to store some of their grain for later sale, on an assumption that its market value will increase in months to come. But that’s not a sure bet, as a new University of Illinois study reveals.