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URBANA, Ill. ­– The number of people in the U.S. who are food insecure will likely skyrocket over the next year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soaring unemployment and poverty rates may lead to record numbers of food insecure households, according to new projections from Feeding America.

Almost 55 million Americans could lack access to adequate food, says Craig Gundersen, ACES distinguished professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois.

The international agricultural and rural development community lost an influential and passionate advocate last week. Burton Swanson, professor emeritus of rural development in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, passed away after a long illness on April 23, 2020.

URBANA, Ill. ­– Climate change creates extreme weather patterns that are especially challenging for people in developing countries and can severely impact agricultural yield and food security. International aid organizations have invested billions of dollars in promoting climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, but the effects of those programs are rarely documented.

URBANA, Ill. ­– “Excellent information and speakers for people to listen to and ask questions for serious concerns on this new ‘invisible enemy.’ Blessings to all,” one viewer said. That’s a typical statement about the farmdocDaily Coronavirus and Ag webinar series, available twice a week at no cost to anyone who signs up.

When the COVID-19 crisis began to send ripple effects through the ag community, the farmdocDaily team reacted quickly.

URBANA, Ill. – Public parks can be valuable assets for communities, but crime in the area can “lock up” that amenity value. Crime directly affects the use that people get from their local parks. If crime is reduced, the environmental value can be unlocked, a new University of Illinois study shows.

“Our research is the first to rigorously quantify this effect, which turns out to account for nearly half of the total value of parks in major U.S. cities,” says Peter Christensen, environmental economist at U of I, and one of the study’s authors.

URBANA, Ill. ­– Soybean production in Africa and other developing regions has the potential to alleviate hunger and boost local economies. But the transition from traditional crops such as cowpea or cassava to a major commercial crop such as soybean is fraught with challenges.

URBANA, Ill. – The Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) was awarded a $335,005 grant from the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI) to address malnutrition in Malawi. SIL’s nutrition team is housed in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.

URBANA, Ill. – University of Illinois agricultural economists will host a webinar series discussing the impact of the coronavirus on agriculture in the Midwest. The webinar series will kick off on Friday, March 20, at 11 a.m. CDT.

URBANA, Ill. ­– The Academy for Home Equity in Financial Planning has a new home at the University of Illinois in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES). The academy is a hub for research, teaching and information about the role of home equity in retirement planning.

Champaign, Ill. – Environmental concerns about hydraulic fracturing – aka “fracking,” the process by which oil and gas are extracted from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water and chemicals – are well documented, but according to a paper co-written by a University of Illinois environmental economics expert, the technique also poses a serious safety risk to local traffic.