URBANA, Ill. – This fall, 15 new faculty members join the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. Their expertise will add to the existing strengths in six academic departments, college administrative units, and University of Illinois Extension, which is housed in the college.

URBANA, Ill. – Midwest farmers and agricultural professionals have a trusted resource in farmdoc, the University of Illinois project that provides research-based information and analysis on agricultural finance, marketing, and management.

Homeowners often invest in energy-saving upgrades to make their homes more comfortable and lower their expenses, hoping to see reductions in their upcoming utility bills. But measuring the costs and effects of hundreds of different retrofits in thousands of households is a complex process.

URBANA, Ill. – Compeer Financial, through its Fund for Rural America, has invested in Illinois 4-H and farmdoc, in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. A check presentation was made Wednesday during the Farm Progress Show in Decatur.

Support to farmdoc

URBANA, Ill. – Alleviating food insecurity is often seen as one of the fundamental roles a country should fulfil. In some cases, this is encapsulated into a constitutionally formalized “right to food.” In other cases, including the U.S., the right to food isn’t formalized, but the U.S. government spends billions of dollars per year to help Americans obtain the food they need.

URBANA, Ill. – Wind energy is increasingly seen as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, as it contributes to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that by 2050, wind turbines will contribute more than 20% of the global electricity supply. However, the rapid expansion of wind farms has raised concerns about the impact of wind turbines on wildlife.

Research in that area has been limited and has yielded conflicting results. A new study, published in Energy Science, provides comprehensive data on how turbines affect bird populations.

URBANA, Ill. – Food insecurity is emerging as a serious health care issue in the United States. One in eight Americans is food insecure, which may lead to a range of serious health conditions. A new study looks at the relation between food insecurity and health care expenditures across the country. 

URBANA, Ill. – When international aid organizations respond to hunger crises around the world, they rely on food security early warning and monitoring systems. However, assessments from those systems can lag months behind the actual situation on the ground.

More accurate and timely warnings could greatly improve the global response to food crisis and help alleviate acute problems, according to a team of agricultural economists at the University of Illinois, working in collaboration with the University of Texas, Austin.

By invitation from the World Bank, Dr. Craig Gundersen, ACES Distinguished Professor in the department of agricultural and consumer economics in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), recently presented on America’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to Egyptian governmental officials.  

“Egypt is thinking about a new approach to food assistance, and they are interested in SNAP as a model,” Gundersen explained.  

When poor households in developing countries receive assistance in the form of livestock, they experience an infusion of assets that may bring them out of poverty in the short term. But do these effects last over time, changing the households’ likelihood of being poor in the future?