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The global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt, according to a June 18 study in Nature.

In contrast to previous studies suggesting that warming could increase global food production, the researchers estimate that every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will drag down the world’s ability to produce food by 120 calories per person per day, or 4.4% of current daily consumption. 

URBANA, Ill.

If you look closely at the marble staircases in Mumford Hall, you’ll see imprints worn into the stone—evidence of generations of students passing through, their footsteps leaving a mark. Among these students was Paul Stoddard, now a senior lecturer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Stoddard’s journey took him from the farm fields of Illinois to the front of a lecture hall, where he has shaped the minds of thousands of students. 

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign each year presents Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction to exceptional faculty and staff members, graduate teaching assistants and advisers campuswide. This year’s recipients, four of which are from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, were honored at a ceremony on April 15.

2025 ACES award recipients include:

Jonathan W. Coppess, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, spoke with Illinois News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the potential effects of tariffs.

What are tariffs likely to mean to the average U.S. household, and when will consumers start to notice the effects?

When West Virginia recently banned seven artificial food dyes in products to be sold within their borders, they joined an increasing number of individual U.S. states issuing their own regulations about food manufacturing practices, allowable ingredients, or product labeling. Consequently, food manufacturers must decide how to deal with different requirements in multiple markets.

A College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences alumna will complete her iMBA at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign later this year, and along with it an Agribusiness and Sustainable Food Production Economics Certificate. 

Livestock agriculture is bearing the cost of extreme weather events. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores how heat stress affects U.S. dairy production, finding that high heat and humidity lead to a 1% decline in annual milk yield. Small farms are hit harder than large farms, which may be able to mitigate some of the effects through management strategies.

Yesterday, faculty from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign spoke as invited witnesses to an Illinois House Agriculture and Conservation Committee hearing on the impacts of the USDA funding freeze, tariffs, and the delayed Farm Bill on Illinois agriculture.

Dr. Bhavani Shankar, an alum from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was recently honored with the prestigious Gates Foundation Goalkeeper Champion Award. Shankar was selected for his work in increasing access and affordability of nutrient dense foods to rural markets.