Researchers analyzed the financial and environmental costs and benefits of four biofuels crops used to produce sustainable aviation fuels in the U.S. They found that each feedstock — corn stover, energy sorghum, miscanthus or switchgrass — performed best in a specific region of the rainfed United States. Their study will help growers and policymakers select the feedstocks most suited to meeting goals like reducing production costs, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and building soil carbon stocks.
The world is your classroom at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences. While our campus buzzes with diverse connections and innovative ideas, our education abroad programs take learning across oceans and to new heights, from mountain tops to jungles.
Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa tend to use very small amounts of fertilizer, limiting their crop productivity. A 2016 intervention in Tanzania increased farmers’ fertilizer use and their crop yields.
Organic farming can support soil microorganisms that promote plant defenses and reduce insect pests. But not all organic practices are equally beneficial for soil microbes, and it’s important to understand farmer motivations in order to encourage the adoption of microbiome-supportive efforts.
The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment has awarded $30,000 in seed funding to Andrew Hultgren, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, and others for an interdisciplinary proposal examining the economic and human health effects of exposure to wildfire smoke on a broad scale. The project aims to inform policy related to climate change.
During our time in Brazil with the International Business Immersion Program, we took several visits to agricultural-based companies and organizations where we observed numerous similarities and differences between the Brazilian and US agribusiness sectors. Most notably, everyone we visited was highly focused on innovation and improving production efficiency. Companies like Embrapa Digital Ag, IMBR Agro, and more are all highly interested in implementing technology into farming practices.
Following decades of decline, even fewer birds will darken North American skies by the end of the century, according to a new analysis by scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
A group of students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign had the chance to immerse themselves in a new culture — and in the global agribusiness and food industry — during an 11-day study abroad program in Brazil.
A study conducted by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economist found that the activities of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation in St. Clair County, Illinois, will provide $32 million in labor income creation, 474 new jobs and $10.7 million in new tax revenue throughout the state of Illinois by 2026.
A new paper co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign urban and environmental economics expert shows that social networks can play a significant role in influencing the financial behaviors and perception of catastrophic risks brought about by climate change.