CPSC

URBANA, Ill. – Corn, soybean, and cotton farmers shudder at the thought of Palmer amaranth invading their fields. The aggressive cousin of waterhemp – itself a formidable adversary – grows extremely rapidly, produces hundreds of thousands of seeds per plant, and is resistant to multiple classes of herbicides, including glyphosate.

URBANA, Ill. – Bacterial leaf streak, a foliar disease in corn, has only been in the United States for a handful of years, but Tiffany Jamann says it’s a major problem in the Western Corn Belt.

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. – Chicago’s urban agriculture scene may be booming, but a hidden danger – lead – may lurk in the soil. The Chicago Safe Soils Initiative, a new project from the University of Illinois, offers free soil lead tests to home gardeners and urban farmers across the metropolitan region.

URBANA, Ill. – Waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, two aggressive weeds that threaten the food supply in North America, are increasingly hard to kill with commercially available herbicides. A novel approach known as genetic control could one day reduce the need for these chemicals. Now, scientists are one step closer.

URBANA, Ill. – A corn gene identified from a 118-year-old experiment at the University of Illinois could boost yields of today’s elite hybrids with no added inputs. The gene, identified in a recent Plant Biotechnology Journal study, controls a critical piece of senescence, or seasonal die-back, in corn. When the gene is turned off, field-grown elite hybrids yielded 4.6 bushels more per acre on average than standard plants.

Champaign, Ill. –– For thousands of years, plants have produced food for humans, but with genetic tweaks, they can also manufacture proteins like Ebola vaccines, antibodies to combat a range of conditions, and now, cellulase that is used in food processing and to break down crop waste to create biofuel.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new computer model incorporates how microscopic pores on leaves may open in response to light—an advance that could help scientists create virtual plants to predict how higher temperatures and rising levels of carbon dioxide will affect food crops, according to a study published in a special issue of the journal Photosynthesis Research today.

Read more at the RIPE website.

MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center will host a field day Wednesday, July 17. University of Illinois Department of Crop Sciences faculty, researchers, students, and Extension specialists will address issues pertinent to the 2019 growing season.

Read more from University of Illinois Extension.

URBANA, Ill. – The public will have the opportunity to learn from more University of Illinois scientists than ever before during the 62^nd Agronomy Day on Aug. 22. Researchers and Extension specialists from across the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences will share the latest discoveries and best practices in agronomy and land stewardship.